The Path I chose to take
by PurpleShadow95
Summary: Naruto is born 5 years before the Kyuubi Attack. After the Kyuubi Attack, things for Naruto change dramatically. He is made responsible for the Kyuubi attack and hides his true Powers. He enters ANBU at the Age of 10 without the knowledge of his Parents. He rapidly rises in the ranks as Kitsune. He is put in the Shadow of his younger brother Kei. Minato and Kushina alive. NaruHina
1. Chapter 1: Family one last Time

**Hey guys.**

 **Before starting with my story, I hope you will lend me your eyes for a short moment to read this. I have, in the course of publishing this story, received a few flames and insults directed not only to the story, but at myself as well. I am welcoming criticism with an open mind, so please be honest about your comments. But if you don't like the story, I am asking you to please not insult me. I am working really hard on this, trying to make it into a good story and trying to make sure it is plausible. Insulting me is neither making me or you feel better. So if you don't like it, don't read it, or tell me exactly what you didn't like. I try to respond to all the reviews, as long as it's possible, so if something is unclear, just write me a message. I don't know how to improve if you just call my story garbage.**

 **Thank you for your attention, and now please, enjoy my very first Fanfic ^^**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

XXX

Chapter 1: Family one last Time

Naruto woke up from the light of the sun, which was shining through the window of his bedroom. He turned to the side to look at the time on the Alarm clock. It was 5:55. He woke up 5 minutes before the alarm. Again. He pushed the blankets of him and slowly sat up. Then he smiled. Today was the day. The day where his Dad would finally start teaching him to throw Kunai. He hurriedly got up and ran to his closet and took out a pair of black shorts and a white shirt with a red swirl, representing the Uzumaki, his Mothers Clan, on the front. He put them on and ran out of his room downstairs. The moment he arrived downstairs, the alarm clock in Naruto's room started to ring. He had forgotten to put it out. But Naruto just ignored it and ran straight into the living room.

"Good morning Naruto" Said Minato Namikaze who sat on the couch in the living room reading a book. Minato looked like an older version of Naruto. Same Blond hair, while slightly longer, and same blue eyes, even though their eye-shape was slightly different. The biggest difference between the two with the exception of the age and height, Minato being around 6 feet and Naruto barely 3.5 feet tall, was the fact that Naruto had 3 whisker marks on each cheeks. Minato wore the traditional Blue Shinobi pants and the Blue sweater with red swirls on both shoulders. He turned to his 4 year old son and smiled. "Ready for some training I presume?"

"Good Morning Tou-chan. I'm ready. Let's go let's go." The 4 year old boy said running to his father and pulling on his arm. He was smiling brightly.

"Haha. Alright, alright I got it." Minato said laughing all the while.

The two of them walked outside. Well… Minato walked. Naruto kept jumping and smiling while still pulling on his father's arm. Arriving on the Porch, both put on their Shinobi sandals and walked into the open field.

"Alright Naruto. Unfortunately, I only have an hour to teach you. I need to head to work afterwards. But I can at least show you the right way to throw the weapons." Minato said.

"Yup I know. I'll give it my all" Naruto said grinning.

Minato smiled at that. He walked into the middle of the field and pointed to the target. A circular piece of wood, where the middle had been marked by a black point and different sizes of circles spreading to the outside.

"Alright Naruto. This is your target. Your goal is obviously to hit the centre. The closer you get to the centre the better. You will start with a distance of 30 feet from the target. We will increase the distance once you've gotten better." Minato said and reached into his Kunai pouch that he had on his back and took out a Kunai. He crouched down and motioned for Naruto to come closer. "Alright Naruto. I want you to listen carefully now ok?" Minato said seriously once Naruto had reached him.

Naruto looked into his father's eyes that had turned serious. Gone was the playfulness. Naruto turned serious as well and nodded to his father.

"Very good. Now this is important. This is a dangerous weapon and you can seriously hurt yourself if you're not careful. This isn't like Nin or Taijutsu. You understand?" Minato asked his son.

"Yes. I'll be careful." Naruto said seriously.

Minato nodded and handed Naruto the Kunai.

"This is a normal Kunai. The kind that everyone uses. One day I'll teach you to use mine, but until then you will learn to use the normal ones. The Kunai is separated in three parts. The point, the handle and the ring. You can use Kunai to fight in close range and in long range. Because of that you have a handle. To throw, you hold the Kunai like this." Minato said while taking the Kunai from Naruto and holding it between his Point and middle Finger. "Once you're confident with throwing one Kunai, you can increase the number of kunai you are throwing. Do you know why there is a Ring?" Minato asked while handing the Kunai back to Naruto.

"To attach a wire. Right?" Naruto stated.

"Correct. Those wires will be lifesavers someday." Minato smiled at his son. Then he got up. "Ok. Let's look at the stance. It's important that you have a stable position. At least when you're learning it." Minato said while spreading his legs a bit and bending his knees slightly. He then took a new Kunai out of his pouch and threw it, the Kunai hit Bullseye. "Like this." Minato stated while turning back to his son. "Now you try it."

"Hai." Naruto said while taking the same position his father had taken. He then threw the Kunai. It flew about 10 feet past the target. "Can I have another Kunai?" Naruto asked while extending his hand to his father.

Minato just handed him a new one, which Naruto took and then he tried again. The target flying past the target once again, but this time a bit closer. This went on for half an hour. The Kunai had now hit the target on the circle farthest from the centre.

"Well someone is making progress." The voice of a woman said from the house.

Both Minato and Naruto turned around and started grinning the same way. There on the Porch stood a beautiful woman in a green dress with long red hair and purple eyes. The most noticeable feature about the woman was however her big Belly. Showing clearly that the woman was highly pregnant.

"Good morning Kaa-chan" Naruto said while running to his mother and gave her a hug. Then he put his hand on her Belly. "Good morning little one".

"Nii-chan Morning" said a small toddler from behind Kushina. He had spikey, short raid hair, the same purple eyes of their Mother and was wearing a Blue Jumpsuit.

"Morning Kei." Naruto said to his 2 year old brother and ruffled his hair.

"Morning Kushina, Kei." Said Minato who came up behind Naruto.

"I'd say it's time for breakfast. Don't you think?" Kushina said and saw how the faces of both Minato and Naruto lit up and both started to grin. " _God… These two are so alike"_ Kushina thought and smiled along with the two oldest men in the Namikaze family.

With that, the Family all went inside and ate there breakfast. Once they were done, Minato got up and put on his flak jacket and his personal coat with the insignia "Yondaime" written on the back.

"Alright guys. I gotta run." He said ruffling both Kei and Naruto's hair while passing, resulting in both of them complaining and Minato laughing, and kissing Kushina on the cheek. "See you tonight. And Naruto. Don't overdo your training." He said while throwing him a Kunai pouch. "And be careful with that." Smiling one last time, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

"Sweet. Finally got my own weapons." Naruto said while attaching the pouch on his back, like his father had it. He then looked at the clock. It was 7:30. "Kaa-chan, can I leave? I'm meeting with Itachi." He asked his Mother.

"Sure. But be sure to be back for Dinner." Kushina said while tidying up the table.

"Got it. Love you Kaa-chan. Kei, see you later." Naruto said while running out of the house.

"Be careful." He heard his mother shout after him.

XXX

Naruto arrived in the clearing where he and Itachi usually trained at 7:45. 15 minutes later than usual. The clearing was in the middle of the forest, and in the trees hung the same targets that Naruto had just practiced on in his yard. The two of them had started their training together about 1 year ago. Both were doing really well for children so young. And soon they would start going to the academy. The first half year they had started training, they had mostly worked on stamina and on getting their chakra reserve bigger. They had met about 3 times a week at that time. They didn't want to overdo it. They had only started to meet daily 3 month ago, and they had been making a lot of progress. And they planned on keeping up the hard work.

"You're late." Was the first thing he heard when he arrived. He turned to his best friend that was sitting in the clearing with his eyes closed. Itachi had black hair that reached shortly above his shoulders and he wore a Blue shirt with a collar and black shorts.

"I know, sorry. But Tou-chan taught me to throw Kunai today. Look at that, he even got me my own pouch." Naruto said and turned to show him his Kunai pouch.

Itachi opened his eyes to look at Naruto. His eyes as Black as his hair.

"I know. You wouldn't shut up about it yesterday." He said. "Well I guess that means that we can start to practice Kunai-throwing together now." He added and stretch out his hand to Naruto.

"Haha, sorry 'bout that. Yeah, I'll catch up to your throwing in no time." Naruto said grinning a foxy grin and helped Itachi up by grabbing his hand. Standing next to each other, one could see that Itachi was slightly bigger than Naruto. Around 3.7 feet tall.

"We'll see about that. I did learn 3 Month before you."

"Well Tou-chan didn't want to rush it, so it's ok."

"The usual warm up?" Itachi asked.

"How about adding an additional round today?"

"Sounds good."

With that, they both started to run. They ran a total of 15 Laps around the training field that was next to their clearing. This took them about 1 hour. Then they did a round of push ups, pull-ups and sit-ups. Then they stretched. By the time they were done with warm up it was 9:15.

"Alright. How about starting with Chakra Control?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." Itachi said and soon enough, both were running up and down a tree. They did that for another hour before taking a break. "By the way, how's _that_ coming along?" Itachi asked, making sure not to talk too loudly. They both knew that Naruto's father had an ANBU on their watch. Just to make sure they didn't hurt themselves. They had both noticed his presence since the first day he was there, since he didn't try to hide his presence at all. They had even asked him for some tips sometimes. After all, ANBU were the elite. It would be stupid not to take advantage of the fact that he was there. And with that, it wasn't so boring for the ANBU either. It was a win/win situation. The reason Itachi spoke so quietly was because Naruto had been working on something without his father's knowledge. Well, without anyone's knowledge. Except Itachi obviously.

"Well, I think I'd be able to pull it off. But it's hard to tell really I mean, I can't really try it out now can I. That's why I wanna work on chakra Control until then. It's the only thing that's making me slightly uncomfortable. You know?"

"Yeah… I'm surprised you even got the Technique down. I mean, it's not like your parents taught it to you. And they're the only ones that have it written down."

"Haha yeah. I really thought they'd catch me when I copied the Technique from my father's office. But like I said. I don't know if it would actually work." Naruto said sounding worried.

Itachi looked at his friend and gave him one of his seldom smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to do it if necessary."

Naruto stopped in his run and looked to Itachi. He closed his eyes and smiled. That guy always knew what to tell him. "Thanks…" he murmured under his breath. But he knew that Itachi heard it.

In order to calm Naruto's worries about Chakra control. They mainly worked on that after the break as well. This time by doing Water walking, which was harder than tree walking obviously, but they had been training it for about a week now and thus didn't fall into the water once. They had made their training harder by avoiding rubber balls that the two of them threw at each other. They training was then interrupted by a loud growl.

"Hehe… How about Lunch?" Naruto asked from the middle of the Lake and put his hand behind his head while smiling sheepishly.

"But no Ramen today." Itachi said seriously which resulted in a pouting Naruto.

XXX

After some Lunch at the Barbecue restaurant, Naruto and Itachi resumed their training. Naruto stood in the middle of the clearing with one Kunai in each Hand. Itachi stood 20 feet from him with a Bag full of Stones.

"You ready?" Itachi asked grabbing a few Stones from the Bag.

"Yup. Go ahead." Naruto answered while looking closely at Itachi.

Itachi took the Signal and started throwing the Stones at Naruto. Naruto meanwhile did his best to deflect the stones with his Kunai. He was doing a pretty good job since only a few actually hit him, and none of them hit him in a lethal place. Once Itachi was out of stones, a rustling of the leaves informed the two of the arrival of the ANBU.

"That wasn't so bad Naruto-kun. You sure improved since last time. And this is your first time deflecting with actual Kunai and no wooden sticks." The ANBU said.

The ANBU was about 6 feet tall and had short brown hair. He wore the traditional ANBU uniform consisting of black clothing, a grey flak jacket, metal arm guards and gloves, ninja sandals with spikes for travelling into mountainous regions, three ninja pouches on his back-waist and a signature spiral tattoo on his shoulder. He had the Mask of a Panda.

"Yo Panda. Thanks for the compliment, but I'm far from my goal. I'm still not fast enough. And had those Stones been Kunai, I wouldn't be able to walk now." Naruto said while picking up the stones that were around him. Now was after all Itachi's turn.

"You're still better than me though…" Itachi said not looking up and picking up the stones together with Naruto.

"You guys…" Panda said with a sigh. _"It's not like Kids your age are usually even training."_ He thought shaking his head. _"Those two aren't even aware that they are already mid genin level. With the exception of Kunai throwing which they have only just started. But really. And that with barely being 5 years old… Freaking Prodigies… They'll be some scary Shinobi one day."_ Panda thought while looking at the two kids picking up stones.

"That's only because I've been working on that more. Your aim is a lot better than mine. So we're even." Naruto said picking up the last stone. "Ok. Your turn." Naruto said taking his Position.

XXX

It was 6 in the evening when Itachi and Naruto put an end to their Training. They had finished their Training for the Day with some Ninjutsu. Panda had agreed to teach them a new Jutsu. In the past year he had already taught them the 3 Jutsus they usually would only learn at the academy. The Bushin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu), the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Jutsu) and the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu). Both Itachi and Naruto had had little trouble with learning them, but were currently still working on mastering them. Meaning, they were trying to use them without Hand signs. Today, to Naruto's and Itachi's delight, he had taught them the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Jutsu). Of course, this being a D-rank Jutsu, unlike the 3 Academy Jutsus which were E-Rank, The Shunshin was harder to learn. And both had to accept that they would need some more training to be able to perform the Technique flawlessly.

"With that, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Panda asked the two boys that were doing some stretches to finish with training.

"Nope. Tomorrow is my Birthday so I'm going to take a day off. And Itachi promised his mom to watch his younger brother for the day. Guess you won't need to play babysitter tomorrow Panda. We'll see you the day after though." Naruto said while finishing his stretch and standing up.

"Ohh. You're getting old Naruto-kun. Soon you won't need me to be here anymore." Panda said in mock sadness.

"Well I gotta leave. See you." Itachi said while waving to the two that were now bickering.

"Ah. Ja Ne" Naruto said while grinning and waving after the disappearing Itachi.

"Guess that means my job is done for now." Panda said with his hands on his hips.

"By the way Panda. What do you report to my father all the time? All we do during the day?"

"Haha no, of course not. I'm only supposed to make sure you don't get hurt. He doesn't even know that you guys realised I'm watching you. Even less that I am teaching you. Basically I'm not reporting anything. If you were to get hurt, which until now you thankfully didn't, I would go and report."

"Hmm. Sou ka… Well I have to head home as well, or Kaa-chan is going to get mad." Naruto said and shivered at the thought. An action mimicked by Panda, who apparently had already met an angry Kushina. "Ja Ne Panda. And thanks for helping us today." Naruto said tuning around and heading home.

"Ja Ne Naruto-kun. Anytime." He answered and waved back.

XXX

"Tadaima" Naruto shouted the moment he entered the House.

"Okaerinasai Naruto." He heard his Mother from the Kitchen.

"Okaeri Nii-chan." Kei said while running as fast as his 2 year old legs could carry him to his older brother and clung to Naruto's leg.

"Yo Kei"

"Naruto, why don't you go take a shower. Dinner will be ready soon." Kushina said while looking out of the Kitchen. "Kei, you have to let go of your brother, or he won't be able to move." She said while chuckling.

"Yada." Kei said grabbing Naruto's leg even more.

That is when Naruto was saved by the appearance of his father. The Moment Minato flashed into the living room, Kei ran over to him and held on to his leg like he had previously done with Naruto's leg.

"Okaeri Tou-chan/Minato" Said all three of the Namikaze family that were already present.

Naruto then used the moment to run up the stairs into the bathroom He quickly took a shower and pulled on clean clothes. He then went back down and sat down at the table. Dinner went by peacefully. After they had all finished, Naruto and Minato cleaned up the Kitchen and Kushina brought Kei to bed. Then the three that were left sat down on the sofa in the living room.

"Alright Naruto, there is something I have to talk to you about. It's about tomorrow…" Minato said while glancing at Kushina every now and then. "Your Kaa-chan and I went to see Tsunade again today, and…"

"Baa-chan? Is something not alright? Is it the little one?" Naruto interrupted in a panicked voice.

This caused both Minato and Kushina to smile. Naruto had called his new sibling little one since he found out that he was going to be an older brother again. And he already proved to be a great brother. Caring for his unborn sibling right away.

"No Naruto. Everything is alright. It's just… Tsunade said Kushina would most likely give birth sometime tomorrow… So… we won't be able to celebrate your birthday like we had planned. I'm sorry."

This caused two different Reactions from Naruto. The first one was confusion. But that was replaced after a few seconds by a grin plastered on Naruto's face. That foxy grin he and his father had in common.

"So the little one is going to have his birthday on the same day as me? That's so cool." Naruto said surprising his parents. "And don't worry about celebrating my birthday. We'll do it together with celebrating the little one's once things have calmed down from Kaa-chan giving birth. When will you be leaving?"

Minato and Kushina were dumbstruck by their son's reaction. They had expected a lot, but not this. Not only was Naruto accepting happily the fact that none would be present on his birthday, he had already realised that they would certainly leave soon to prepare for the birth, like they had done the two previous times as well. Not that Naruto should actually remember that…

"Tou-chan?" Naruto asked in confusion as all Minato did was stare at him.

"Ahh… Right… Ehm… We'll leave in the morning. To make sure we have all in place and all." Minato answered after coming out of his shock.

Naruto nodded. He had thought that it would be like that.

"Then, is it alright if I head to Itachi's tomorrow? Both Mikoto-obasan and Fugaku-Ojisan are out and Itachi is watching Sasuke-kun. I'm sure Kei will enjoy the time he can spend with Sasuke-kun."

"That would be great Naruto. Thank you." Kushina said smiling fondly at her oldest son. _"He is such a good brother"_

"Naruto. You need to promise me something alright?" Minato stated seriously.

"I know Tou-chan. If the Kyuubi gets free, head to the shelter and don't come out until the all-clear sounds." Naruto said just as seriously as his father.

Again Minato and Kushina were taken aback by their son's reaction. Apparently he remembered the talk Minato had had with his student, Hatake Kakashi, back when Kei was born. Naruto had been right beside them that day. But to think that he remembered that was surprising. Minato had made Kakashi swear that he would watch Naruto all day, and to bring him to the shelter if Minato was not able to hold the Kyuubi back.

"Correct. Try to find Kakashi if that were happen. Alright?" Minato asked after gaining his control back.

"Got it. But… Tou-chan, Kaa-chan… Please come back safe alright?" Naruto said looking down. The worry was written all over his face at the thought of his parents facing the nine tailed fox.

"Of course. Dattebane. And then we'll celebrate your birthday. That's a promise." Kushina said raising her fist.

"That's right. We'll be fine." Minato added with a secure smile. _"We were able to keep the Kyuubi from escaping twice. We'll manage a third time as well."_

This caused Naruto to smile. _"That's right. They're two of the most powerful Shinobi. And there's still_ _that_ _if worst comes to worst."_ Naruto thought while gaining some confidence back.

"Alright Naruto. You better get to sleep now. Kushina and I will leave before the sun's up in the morning so we'll see each other again the day after tomorrow with your new sibling."

"Ok. I'll see you soon then." Naruto said while walking over to his parents and hugging them. "Love you Tou-chan, Kaa-chan"

"We love you too." Was the answer of his parents.

XXX

Morning came very fast. That is at least what Naruto thought. He turned to the alarm clock on his bedside. It was 5:30. The sun hadn't even gone up yet, but Naruto knew that his parents had already left. He turned on his back again and looked at the ceiling. He had managed to put up a strong front the evening before, but even though he really did believe in his parents to keep the Kyuubi at bay, he couldn't help but feel really nervous and worried about the outcome of today. _"Enough of that. I have to get ready."_ Naruto thought and got up. He went to his closet that was situated across his window. He took out a pair of white pants and put on a blue T-Shirt. Over that he put on a grey sleeveless sweater. Next he attached the Kunai pouch to his back like he had done yesterday. He then took a deep breath and walked over to his Bookshelf that was across from his bed.

It was a simple one with three rows to put in his books and his scrolls. He took out all the books of the middle row and put them to the side. Most of the books were about sealing. An art he had been learning for the past two years. One would think that with two parents who were both seal masters, Naruto would have actually asked them for help. But Naruto had not done so. All the books he had now put to the side were copies of his father's office. The reason his parents had not found out about the fact that he had been studying Fuinjutsu was because all of the books had a cover that did not match the content. Like the first book about sealing, _Fuinjutsu. First steps without blowing up_ - _written by Jiraya,_ had a cover of the Bedtime story _Bubbles the dog and his Adventures._ A Story Naruto had greatly enjoyed as a Toddler. Now the reason for keeping the fact that Naruto was learning Fuinjutsu a secret, was because his parents would never have agreed to teach him if they had known of his reasons. So Naruto just kept quiet from the very beginning. Naruto took once again a deep breath put his head in the row and looked up. The seal he had drawn month ago was still there, like he had drawn it. _"Good"_ He thought. _"Time to get it out. Need to have it with me at all time now…"_ Naruto got his Head out again and put the palm of his hand on the seal and then activated the seal by channelling Chakra through his Palm into the seal. There was a poof of smoke and out came a scroll that now lay in Naruto's hand. Naruto turned it around and looked at it carefully. Making sure it had not been damaged in any way. He was after all still far from being proficient with seals. Nodding to himself he got up and put the scroll into his pocket. It wasn't that big after all. Naruto then put all of the books back into the shelf and slowly went downstairs.

Kei was still fast asleep and wouldn't wake up for at least another hour. So, waiting for Kei to wake up, Naruto went into the yard and practice his Kunai throwing. It was around 7:00 that Naruto heard Kei crying from his room. So Naruto packed up all of his Kunai again and went up to his brother's nursery.

"Good morning Kei. No need to cry, I'm here now." Naruto said and went to pick up his brother from the crib.

Kei stopped crying after seeing Naruto and started to giggle. "Nii-chan morning" Kei said still giggling.

"Well someone is happy to see me." Naruto said smiling fondly at his younger brother. "We're going to visit Sasuke-kun today. How do you like that?"

"Yay!" Kei said throwing his little arms into the air.

"Hehe. Alright. Let's get you dressed then shall we?" Naruto said and went over to his brother's closet and took out a pair of long brown pants and a red shirt, as well as a black sweater. He then proceeded to cloth Kei. The two of them then went downstairs and Naruto made them a small breakfast, consisting of cereals.

"Nii-chan, where are Kaa-chan and Tou-chan?" Kei asked after eating his cereals.

"Hmm. Kaa-chan and Tou-chan will be back soon. They went to get our new sibling, you're going to be a big brother Kei." Naruto answered while cleaning up the Kitchen.

"Yata!" Kei said excitedly.

"Alright, how about we head over to the Uchiha compound now?"

"Hai. Let's go. Let's go." Kei said excitedly and pulled up his arms. "Piggy back."

"Haha. Alright. Piggy back it is." Naruto said and turned around for Kei to climb on his back. Then the two headed out of the house in direction of the Uchiha district.

While walking through the village, Naruto couldn't help but notice that everything, everyone, was just like usual. _"Well it's to be expected. No one knows that there could be an attack of the strongest Tailed beast any moment. But it sure is nerve wracking."_ Naruto thought looking around.

They arrived at the Uchiha compound at 8:30. Naruto walked up to the guard and greeted them. Since this was not the first time he had come here, the guards let him in. And then, Naruto, together with Kei, headed to the main house, where Itachi and his family lived. Naruto knocked on the door and then waited. It only took a moment for Itachi to come and open the door. First surprise came over his face. But that soon turned into confusion.

"Naruto? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off with your family celebrating or something?" Itachi asked and his glanced at the now squirming Kei on Naruto's back.

Naruto put Kei down, who ran into the house right away and shouted "Sasuke. Here to play!"

Naruto giggled slightly at the sight of his kid brother and then turned his gaze at Itachi. He turned serious right away and made sure to talk only loud enough for his friend to hear. "Yeah, well. Kaa-chan is going to give birth sometime today. So both left in the early morning."

Itachi's eyes widened at that statement. "That's early than expected right? Last time I heard, she wasn't supposed to give birth for another 2 weeks. Is your mom ok?" Itachi asked just as quietly.

"Yeah I know. I was quite surprised too. But what can you do?" He said and shrugged." Biwako-obaa-san has gone with her and Tou-chan. So she'll be alright." He said. Sounding more confident than he actually felt. "Well, and since your parent aren't here either. I thought I'll come over, so that Kei and Sasuke-kun can play a bit. Well that and… I'd probably go crazy sitting alone with Kei all day." He said while glancing north. Somewhere that way were his parents. Maybe already trying to keep the Fox at bay. _"Please let it be alright"_ He thought and furrowed his brows.

Itachi saw this and knew right away what he was thinking. "They'll be fine I'm sure. I guess you took _it_ with you then?" Itachi asked.

Naruto turned his head to Itachi again and gave a small smile. "Yeah of course. Like I'd actually forget it. It's right here." He said and put his hand into his pocket and took out the scroll from earlier.

Itachi just nodded and then invited Naruto in. Naruto thanked him, put the scroll back into his pocket and entered the house.

"Oh and by the way. Happy Birthday, Naruto." Itachi said and patted Naruto's shoulder. Naruto answered with a foxy grin.

With that, the two now 5 year old boys spent the time watching their younger brothers playing with Sasuke's toys. Everything was very peaceful the whole day, and both Naruto and Itachi slowly started to relax. It wasn't until later in the afternoon that they felt it. A presence so great that both Kei and Sasuke started crying right away. A loud growl, echoing through the whole village. And Killing Intent that made both Naruto and Itachi shake in fear. They didn't need to go out of the house to see it. They didn't need to say a word. They just knew.

The Kyuubi had gotten free.

XXX

 **Alright, first chapter. Hope you liked it.**

 **Your PurpleShadow95**


	2. Chapter 2: Losses

**Thanks for following my story. And thanks for the reviews ^^**

 **Please enjoy the next chapter.**

 **DISCALIMER: I do not own Naruto**

XXX

Chapter 2: Losses

It was 4:00 in the morning when Minato and Kushina looked through the doorframe into Naruto's bedroom. Naruto was sleeping peacefully, like Kei was. Kushina felt a Hand on her shoulder and turned to her husband. Both nodded and then left the house. They walked down the street to the Hokage Tower. They were to meet with Biwako Sarutobi, as well as their ANBU guard. They didn't take long to reach the Tower. The streets were very quiet, since the Villagers were still fast asleep. Biwako and the 5 ANBUs were already present. Biwako had long, brown hair which she kept in a high ponytail, dark eyes, slightly visible creases at the corners of her eyes and her mouth. She wore a purple kimono-like dress, along with a white haori and sandals. The ANBUs wore the traditional Uniform and their mask consisted of a Cat, a horse, a wolf, a dog and a rabbit.

The ANBUs all bowed deeply at the arrival of their Hokage and Biwako bowed her hair slightly as a greeting. "Minato, Kushina, good morning. How are you feeling?" She asked Kushina.

"Fine so far. Thank you, Biwako-oba-san" Kushina said bowing her head in a greeting as well. Biwako mumbled something under her breath. Something about respect and elders. Biwako had tried for years to get Kushina to stop calling her 'oba-san', but was failing miserably. And the Namikazes oldest son was just as bad. Always calling her 'obaa-san'. And she was the wife of the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, so not many people called her the way the Namikazes called her. Actually. No one but they did.

"Good morning. Thanks for coming so early in the morning." Minato said smiling at Biwako's antics and bowed his head to Biwako as well. Just then, an elder man and a beautiful woman, with a bust of considerable size, came out of the tower. "Hiruzen, Tsunade, thanks for seeing us off" Minato said to the two new arrivals with a smile.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, was tan-skinned and had brown spiky hair and a goatee. He had a single line running vertically under the corners of each eye. He was wearing a red, full-length kimono that was tied using a white sash and a white haori. He had put his hands behind his back and was now smiling at Minato. "Of course." Hiruzen answered with a smile.

Tsunade Senju was fair-skinned, had long straight blond hair tied in two loose pigtails and had a purple, diamond shaped mark on her forehead. She wore a green haori over a grey kimono blouse, held by a dark obi, which had the same colour as her pants. She also wore a blue crystal-Necklace. She put her hands on her hips and gave Minato a small smile. "I wish you guy's good luck" Tsunade said.

"Thanks. I'll leave things here to you then." Minato said to the two.

"Be careful, and come back safely." Hiruzen said to Minato and then looked at Biwako. "And you better come home safe as well, or I'll get angry."

Biwako smiled at her husband in return. "Don't worry. We'll soon have a new Namikaze-brat making everyone go crazy around here. Just like their mother." Biwako stated while smirking at Kushina, who only laughed sheepishly.

"We'll be better head out now. Hiruzen, Tsunade, see you soon." Minato said and turned in direction of north.

"Ja ne." Kushina said and turned as well.

Then Minato and Kushina took off. The 5 ANBUs following suit and Biwako looking after them.

"Guess I better go too. I'll see you soon." Biwako said and took Hiruzen's Hand. Gave it a squeeze and let go. She then went after Kushina and Minato.

"Why do I feel like something is going to happen?" Hiruzen asked while looking at the retreating form of his wife.

"It will be alright I'm sure, Sensei." Tsunade answered. But she couldn't hide the worry in her voice like she would have wanted.

XXX

Minato and his followers arrived at the small hut where Kushina had given birth the two prior times at around 6:00. They had travelled at a slower pace than usual, since Kushina was having a rather hard time. Usually, it would have taken them approximately 30 minutes to reach the hut. But with a highly pregnant woman on the group, it had taken them about twice the time. Which was still a rather fast pace.

"Alright Ookami (Wolf), Usagi (Rabbit), the two of you will stay guard outside in a radius of 30 Mile. Uma (Horse) and Inu (Dog), you two watch the Hut from up close. Neko (Cat), I want you to stay in the room with us, in case Biwako needs a hand." Minato gave his commands.

"Hai!" Was the mutual answer of the ANBUs. Ookami and Usagi disappeared in a Shunshin and Uma and Inu took their position in front of the Hut.

Minato nodded and took Kushina's hand. She then led her inside, followed closely by Neko and Biwako. Minato led Kushina into the living room, where Kushina sat down on a couch and leaned her head back. Walking around in the Kitchen to make dinner was one thing. Running over an hour through the forest was another. She was exhausted and needed a break. Biwako sat down next to her and checked that everything was alright, while Cat stood straight at the door. Ready for anything. Minato meanwhile walked into the room next to the living room. It was a rather big room. A big bed was in the middle of the room and there was a small crib in the corner of the room. There was also a table, with all kinds of medical utensils on it, across the room. _"Let's hope we won't need them."_ Minato thought worriedly. _"Ok. Time to get the room ready."_ Minato walked over to the Table and took out different tags. He then took out a brush and ink and started to draw different kind of seals. The seals he drew were for different kind of effects. Some were protective seals that would keep people from entering, others were Chakra suppressors, to keep the Kyuubi's Chakra from being felt by sensors. And the last ones were to help keeping the Kyuubi in check.

Once he was done he taped those seals all over the room on the walls. _"This should do."_

Minato then walked back into the living room and looked at Kushina. She was pale and was breathing heavily.

"How is she?" He asked Biwako.

"She's holding up. But she's not quite ready yet." Biwako answered and looked at Minato. "Tsunade really is amazing. To be able to tell that she's giving birth today so accurately. She really is the best Medic-Nin there is." Biwako stated with pride. After all, she had taught Tsunade everything she knew, and then Tsunade went and surpassed her.

"Yeah, she sure is." Minato said and sat down as well. "Neko, you can sit down as well you know. It's going to be a long day." Minato said and motioned to the single couch that was in front of them.

Neko seemed to think for a moment, but then she nodded. "Hai. Thank you, Hokage-sama" She said and sat down.

XXX

"AAAAAHHHH!" Kushina shouted and grabbed onto the sheets of the bed. It was now around 16:00. About one hour ago, Biwako had said that it would be best to move to the Bedroom, since it wouldn't be long until Kushina was ready. So Minato had carried her into the Bedroom and laid her onto the Bed. The Contractions had become in shorter intervals until this moment.

"Kushina, I need you to push" Biwako said while keeping an eye open for the child. Neko stood beside Kushina and had a green glowing hand on her head, trying to minimize the pain.

"God Minato! For doing this to me again. I'm going to make your remaining life hell!" Kushina shouted and pushed.

"I know Honey, It'll be alright." Minato said and concentrated on the Seal on Kushina's stomach. He was currently reinforcing the seal of the Kyuubi.

"I can see the head Kushina."

"AAAHHHHHH!" Kushina shouted again.

"One more push, Kushina. Neko get here." Biwako shouted and Neko appeared at her side a second later with clamps and a scissor to cut the umbilical cord. Minato would have to take care of the seal, so he wouldn't be able to cut the cord.

"Alright it's here." Biwako said with a smile on her face. That turned into a frown and then a look of worry. "Oh no." Biwako said. Neko had meanwhile cut the cord and was looking at Biwako. Just like Minato and Kushina as well.

"What? What is with my child? Oba-chan!" Kushina shouted with worry.

"Biwako?" Minato asked now with equal worry. If he wasn't still holding the Kyuubi back, he would rush to her side without a though.

"Neko! I need your help. Now!" Biwako said and took the child to the table on the other side of the room. Her hands started to glow green and she put them over the heart of the child. The heart that was not beating. Neko had arrived next to her and started her own medical Jutsu on the child.

Both Biwako and Neko were so focused on the child and Minato and Kushina on both keeping the fox at bay and trying to find out what was wrong with their child, that none noticed the new presence in the room. The new presence moved and in an instant he was next to Biwako and Neko, and killed both by slicing their throat. Both fell to the ground. Not even knowing what had hit them. The presence, now identified as a man with a Mask turned around.

"What?! Shit" Minato cursed.

The Masked man had taken the child in his arms and looked at Minato and Kushina. He then pointed a Kunai at the child's throat.

"Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Namikaze, formerly Uzumaki. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I don't know who you are, but you better not hurt my child." Minato said. He was still keeping the seal intact, which is why he couldn't move to the man and take his child back.

"Of course, that is, if you're willing to fulfil my wishes." The masked men said.

"What is it that you want?" This time it was Kushina that asked. Her breath was swallow and she was barely conscious.

"That, dear Kushina is fairly simple." The man stated. "I want you. More precisely. I want the Kyuubi inside of you."

"Don't be stupid. Let the child go." Minato said. He was getting angry. But he still couldn't move. Yet somehow, even though he had no actual evidence, he knew that something was wrong with their child. It hadn't cried once, and as much as he wanted to believe that it was just a real heavy sleeper, the part of him that was still thinking logically, told him there was nothing he could do for his child. And certainly not without the presence of a Medic-nin.

"Hmmm… So you don't want to give me the Kyuubi willingly. Well I wasn't really expecting it either way but… It's a shame. Such a young life." The man said, looking down at the little baby. His gaze then turned to Kushina. Their eyes met, and suddenly there was an eruption of evil chakra from Kushina's Body. Originating from the Seal that Minato was now trying to keep working with all his might.

"I'm just going to take it by force then." The Man stated. The Kunai then went down into the child's throat.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Kushina cried out in pure agony over seeing her child being killed. She, like Minato, had realized that something had been wrong, but still believed that their child could have been saved. This possibility had now been crushed by the Kunai stuck into their baby's throat.

Due enormous emotional breakdown of Kushina as well as the influence of the masked man, Minato was no longer able to hold the seal in place, and the Kyuubi started to materialize. Minato took Kushina into his arms and used the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) to bring her into a safe place.

Kushina was still crying. "My Baby. Oh god. Why?!"

"I'll be right back." Minato said and teleported back into what was left of the hut.

The Kyuubi was still materializing itself, and the masked man looked at it while still holding the dead baby in his arm. He was then attacked by Minato. Minato tried to hit the man in the face, but his punch passed right though and he appeared behind him. Getting over his shock quickly, he spun around and tried to his him with his leg. Put it passed the man again. The Masked man, who apparently was sick of carrying a dead baby around, threw it at Minato.

"Catch." He said and then disappeared to look at the finalization of the Kyuubi's transformation.

Minato's eyes widened and he sprung towards the baby and caught it. It was now laying naked in his arms. A baby girl. With blond hair, and 2 Whiskers on her cheek. _"She's so beautiful. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."_ Minato thought and let a tear roll down his cheek. He teleported back to the still crying Kushina, and put the girl in her mother's arm for the first, and also the last time. If anything, Kushina's crying became even stronger. She held her child close to her chest, with no intention of ever letting go. Minato looked back to where the hut had been. The Kyuubi had finished his materialization and was now moving at an incredible speed towards Konoha. And as the Hokage, he couldn't let that happen.

"Kushina. I need to go. The Kyuubi is on its way to the village. Stay here. I'll be back soon." Minato said and kissed Kushina on the Forehead. He then disappeared in a yellow flash.

XXX

Meanwhile, the Kyuubi had reached the village. There were cries of terror and fear. Civilian were running into the inside of the Village, while the Shinobi tried their best to provide a safe evacuation to the shelters. But it was no use. Nothing the shinobi did had an effect on the Kyuubi. Kunai were hit away with a flick of the tail and Jutsu were simply not doing any damage. People died one after the other. They were crashed by the Kyuubi or were burnt by the fire that had started the moment the Kyuubi had entered the village. The situation seemed desperate. The Kyuubi had already reached the middle of the village, and was now preparing to attack. The Kyuubi then opened his mouth, and gathered what seemed like chakra in front of his muzzle. Ready to fire a Bijuu-Bomb.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!" was heard and suddenly, a gigantic Toad appeared on top of the Kyuubi. And on top of the Toad stood Minato.

All kind of shouts were heard from the people in the village. "It's Yondaime-sama!" "We're saved!" "Hokage-sama!"

Minato went through a set of Hand seals and slammed his hand on the toads head. There was a huge poof of smoke, and Minato, The Toad and the Kyuubi had disappeared from view, only to appear 40 Miles outside of the Village.

Hiruzen, who had arrived at the scene the moment Minato teleported away, looked around. _"It hasn't even been 5 minutes since it entered the village. And there is already so much destruction. So many death…"_ Hiruzen thought and started to give orders for evacuation of the civilian and the recovery of the injured and dead.

XXX

Minato arrived in the middle of the forest on top of the Toad, which he sent back to his home. Minato had thus jumped off the Beast and the Kyuubi stood now right in front of him. And so, for the first time, he took a closer look at the Kyuubi, or more precisely, his eyes. Minato's eyes widened at what he saw. The Sharingan. _"So the Masked man is an Uchiha. He must be controlling the Kyuubi then."_

"I can't have you prevent the Kyuubi from destroying the village, Minato." Said the masked man who had appeared behind Minato.

The Uchiha threw a punch at Minato, who dodged it by crouching down. Minato then tried to sweep the Uchiha's legs away, by turning around with his leg outstretched, but the masked man just jumped over it. Minato proceeded to slash at him with his Kunai, but just like the last time, he simply past through the man. _"Shit. What the hell is this Jutsu"_ Minato thought.

"Like I said. Can't have you get in my way." The man said and he started and grabbed Minato's hand that was holding the Kunai. He then started to distort together with Minato.

Minato noticed this and used the Hiraishin to get away again. He looked at the Kyuubi again, who had started to run towards the village again. _"Damn. I can't take care of the Kyuubi and this guy at the same time, neither do I have any seals farther away. And where the heck am I supposed to seal the Kyuubi in the first place?!"_ Minato slowly started to panic. The strongest Bijuu was currently attacking his village and he was stuck with this Uchiha guy that had a grudge against Konoha. Kushina was too weak mentally and physically at the moment to seal the Kyuubi into herself again and there was no one who would willingly accept to have the Kyuubi sealed into themselves. And no one that could have it sealed into them without dying from the strain either. His thoughts were interrupted by the masked man who once again attacked, a Kunai in his hand. _"Ok. First things first. I need to figure out this Jutsu… He can somehow dematerialize. But he did grab me before. So he does have a Physical Form… Alright. Let's try this"_ Minato thought and prepared a Rasengan in his right hand. He then threw a Kunai and ran right after it. He stretched the swirling chakra ball out and saw the Kunai pass through the man. But he had expected that. The Moment the Kunai arrived behind the man's head, Minato used the Hiraishin to teleport above the man and slammed his Rasengan into his back. The Rasengan hit and the Uchiha crashed into the ground.

The man managed to get up and jump away. He was holding his right arm and was breathing heavily.

"So you figured it out. My Technique." The man stated. "But even if you did. It doesn't change the fact that the Kyuubi will destr…" The Man stopped midsentence and looked in the direction of the village. The Kyuubi had stopped in his tracks. And then, the Kyuubi disappeared in a poof of smoke. Not only the Kyuubi itself, but its whole presence simply disappeared. "What… How..." The Uchiha murmured to himself. Then he turned to Minato again. "What did you do? Nothing should have been able to stop it!" the masked man shouted angrily.

Minato on his part was at a loss of words as well. _"Hiruzen must have found a way to stop it. Good. Now I can concentrate on this guy."_ The moment Minato had finished his thought, the masked man started to distort.

"This is not over. We will see each other again. Minato Namikaze." The man said and disappeared.

XXX

Hiruzen was still in the middle of the village overlooking the evacuation. ANBUs were searching and rescuing possible survivors, the Uchiha Police force that had arrived moments ago had taken charge of bringing People to the shelters. He could see Fugaku Uchiha, Head of the clan, leading a group of children, probably from the orphanage that was around the corner, away. And Tsunade had taken control of the medics. She was personally not involved in the process of healing, after all she still had Haemophobia, but her inputs on how to heal someone where still a huge help.

Hiruzen's gaze then went to the Kyuubi that was still miles away. _"Shit!"_ He thought as he saw that the Kyuubi was again on the move. "All of you, hurry it up. Team Bat, you come with me." Hiruzen shouted and ran in the direction the Kyuubi was coming from. The ANBU team Hiruzen had ordered to come with him, where following closely behind. They reached the Village gate a short time before the Kyuubi did. Hiruzen was about to go through a set of hand seals when the Kyuubi suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The Kyuubi, who moments before seemed like a bloodthirsty, ruthless beast, now stood in front of the Sandaime Hokage, and looked… calm. The breathing of the fox became slower and its eyes started fluttering shut. Like it was falling asleep. And then. Poof. It was gone. No residual scent, no chakra, nothing. Absolutely no trace of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. _"Where the heck did it go? It can't just disappear like that… Can it?"_ Hiruzen thought while looking around. Trying to sense something. Anything. _"Must be Minato's doing"_ He thought and signalled the ANBUs to follow him into the forest, where Minato had teleported previously. _"Biwako…"_ were his thoughts while he accelerated his pace.

XXX

Minato meanwhile had returned to Kushina's side. Her sobs had turned quieter, but she still refused to let go of their deceased daughter. Minato picked her up and teleported back to the hut. On the way to Kushina, Minato had looked for his ANBU guards. He was pretty sure the masked man had killed them, but he still wanted to make sure. He had been right. He had found both Ookami and Usagi 20 miles from the hut with sliced throats. Now that they had arrived at the hut, Minato started looking for his two last guards. Uma and Inu. He found them underneath the rubble of the hut. Like he had done with Ookami and Usagi, he sealed both Uma and Inu into scrolls as well. He was going to give them a proper burial once they got home. He kept looking and soon also found Neko and Biwako. Their death was really bitter to Minato. Both had tried their best to save his daughter, which he was really thankful for. He pulled them out of the scree and laid Biwako to the side while he sealed Neko away. He felt Hiruzen coming. _"He'll want to see her"_ Minato thought and walked over to his wife. He didn't say anything. He was just as crushed as she was. All he did was take her in his arms and slowly rocked her back and forth. Tears were now also streaming down from his face onto Kushina's head. Feeling her husband crying seemed to make a new wave of emotion surge from Kushina as her sobbing once again turned stronger and she moved her right arm to now hold onto Minato's back. Their daughter in between them.

This was the sight Hiruzen Sarutobi and 5 ANBUs came across. "Minato" Hiruzen started.

Minato looked up. His tearstained face broke Hiruzen's heart. And what he said next broke it even more. "Hiruzen. I'm sorry. I couldn't protect her. Please forgive me." Minato said his face filled with guilt and grieve. He turned his gaze to Biwako, who was lying a few feet away from the pair.

Hiruzen walked over to his wife and took her into his arms. A few tears rolling down his face as well. "It's not your fault, Minato. None of this is. So don't blame yourself." Hiruzen said and picked Biwako up. "We need to head back, Minato. There was a lot of damage in the village." Hiruzen stated and turned to Minato.

Minato nodded and picked Kushina up as well. That's when Hiruzen, as well as the 5 ANBUs first laid eyes on the little baby in Kushina's arms.

"I'm sorry, Minato, Kushina" Hiruzen said sadly. Minato just nodded in thanks. They then took off in direction of the village. After some time, Hiruzen asked the question that had been going through his mind for a moment. "But tell me Minato, how did you make the Kyuubi disappear?" Hiruzen asked.

This made Minato have a look of surprise and then of confusion come over his face. "Me? I thought you did it? I couldn't. I was… busy." Minato answered, making sure he didn't let the fact slip that there was someone controlling the Bijuu. He would have to speak with Hiruzen about that when they were alone.

"Hah?! But if it wasn't you, and me neither? Who did it?" Hiruzen asked the question that was going through the mind of all people present aloud.

XXX

 **Alright guys. This is it. I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but I had to cut here. Hope you enjoy it so far ^^ See you soon. Your PurpleShadow95**


	3. Chapter 3: Sacrifice

**Thanks for the reviews and following my story. ^^**

 **Enjoy the next chapter.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

XXX

Chapter 3: Sacrifice

Naruto and Itachi looked at each other, the horror present on both of their faces. Kei and Sasuke both came running towards the two older boys.

"Nii-chan!" Sasuke cried out and clung to Itachi's leg.

"I'm scared." Kei cried out as well and followed Sasuke's lead by clinging onto Naruto's leg.

"We need to get them to the shelters." Naruto stated and picked up Kei, so he was now resting on his hip.

Itachi followed suit and picked up Sasuke as well. Then both Itachi and Naruto ran outside. What awaited them outside was hell. People were yelling, crying and running around. A fire consumed everything in its way. The heat of the fire reaching even the Uchiha compound. Even though it was situated almost on the other side of the village. They could see the Kyuubi currently making its way towards the centre of the village. _"Tou-chan, Kaa-chan, please be alright."_ Naruto thought worriedly. Itachi then started to run towards the shelters. Naruto followed right behind. Kei was holding tightly onto his older brother, still crying. Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Naruto and Itachi stopped in their tracks to look at where the sound came from. In the centre of the village, right on top of the Kyuubi's head, now sat a gigantic red Toad. And on top of the Toad stood a figure. Although they were so far away from the scene, Naruto let go of a sigh of relieve when he recognised his father.

"Naruto!" Itachi shouted and Naruto turned around to look at his friend. "We need to hurry up. We need to get Sasuke and Kei to the shelters." Itachi said seriously.

"Right!" Naruto said. Looking a last time towards the Kyuubi, just in time to see it disappear in a poof of smoke. _"Nice work Tou-chan."_ Naruto though and then once again ran after Itachi.

The two of them ran out of the compound and into the streets of Konoha. Naruto and Itachi ran past a lot of Shinobis. Most of them were running towards the centre, ready to fight the Kyuubi if it would return, but a lot of the Shinobis were also trying to lead the civilian to the Shelters. They past a lot of Uchiha on the way, all keeping the evacuation as organized as possible. The Uchiha compound was thankfully really close to the Shelters that were situated inside of the Hokage Rock. Naruto then stopped in his tracks as he looked towards north. There was the Kyuubi, and once again it was running towards the village. Itachi had noticed that Naruto had stopped and stopped as well. He turned to his friend and followed his gaze.

"You're going to do it aren't you?!" Itachi asked with a frown.

Naruto turned his gaze towards Itachi, who was still looking at the Kyuubi's fast approaching figure. Itachi turned his gaze towards Naruto again, since he had yet to answer. There was a look of determination in his eyes.

"Tou-chan must have a reason why he isn't holding the Kyuubi back. Maybe he was attacked?! Anyway. He won't be able to be here in time. And the Kyuubi will destroy everything the next time he arrives here. So yes. I'm going to do it." Naruto said, with fire in his eyes as he continued to look at Itachi.

Itachi nodded. He knew that Naruto's mind was set. It had been since he had told Itachi about his plan. And Itachi had supported him all the way. Naruto was his best friend, and he knew what he was capable of. Probably the only person who really knew what he was capable of. The people in his clan had always said that Itachi was a prodigy. But Itachi knew that Naruto was just as much a prodigy than him. Maybe… No, probably an even greater. That's why Itachi wasn't nervous.

"Alright. But I won't let you go on your own." Itachi said and looked at the two kids for a second.

Naruto furrowed his brows. They couldn't take Kei and Sasuke with them, and if they entered the shelter, they wouldn't be let out again until the all clear sounded. Then, someone behind Itachi caught his attention.

"AH! Hitomi-san!" Naruto called out. He the run past Itachi and walked towards the woman he had called out to. Itachi followed him.

"Naruto-kun!" The woman said and took a look at the small group. She then smiled. "Thank god you are all alright." She said. She had Shoulder-length dark blue hair and white eyes, with no visible pupils. The proof that she was a member of the Hyuuga clan. She wore a White Kimono with a Blue obi and held small girl in her arms. Her daughter Hinata, who despite all the commotion around her, slept peacefully in her mother's arm. Next to the woman stood two man. Both had the same eyes as Hitomi, but wore the traditional Shinobi uniform of Konoha.

"Hitomi-san, Itachi and I forgot something at the compound. It's a seal my father made for reinforcing of walls. We really need to get back to get it, but we can't take Kei and Sasuke-kun with us again. That would be too dangerous." Naruto stated in a hushed tone. "So, could we leave the two with you until we get back? Please. It won't take long I promise." Naruto asked in a pleading voice.

"But, Naruto-kun, that's really dangerous. Going back now. Is it really necessary for you to have that seal?" Hitomi asked in worried tone.

"Yeah, it's really important. Please Hitomi-san? I promise we'll be fine." Naruto said again.

Hitomi seemed to think for a moment, and looked at both Naruto and Itachi with a worried frowned, but then she nodded. "Alright Naruto-kun, Itachi-kun. But please be careful. And hurry up." Hitomi said and gave her guard the sign to take the two now sleeping toddlers from Itachi and Naruto. Apparently they had cried themselves to sleep.

"Thank you." He said and was already turning around and started to run.

"Thank you." Itachi said with a bow and ran after Naruto.

Naruto suddenly turned away from the village gate, the direction they had been heading towards. Itachi frowned. "Aren't we supposed to get to the North gate?" He voiced his thoughts.

Naruto tuned his head slightly towards Itachi. "Not quite. We can't just appear at the gate. I'm sure Jiji is already there, or certainly on his way." Naruto answered. "We just need to be close enough." Naruto said and then they entered the forest. Naruto stopped and looked around. "I need a high tree." Naruto said and kept looking.

"How high?" Itachi asked, looking around now as well.

"High enough to see the gate." Naruto answered and then his stare stopped on a certain tree about 500 yard away. "Something like that" Naruto said smirking and rushed towards it. He then looked up the tree and nodded. "Alright. I can do this…" He said like a mantra.

"Are you sure you're going to do this? If you really succeed, which I'm sure you will, you're going to change your life completely. You don't know how much it's going to change _you_ either…" Itachi said seriously and looked at Naruto.

Naruto then smiled. "I know. Or rather you're right. I _don't_ know how it's going to change me and my life but… Right now, it needs to be done. I'm ready to face the consequences too." Naruto said with determination.

"Alright. Let's start this then."

"Yep. Let's do this. I might need your chakra though." Naruto said and started running up the tree. Once again followed by Itachi.

"Sure." Was his answer.

The two of them were now looking over the village. The Kyuubi would only need another minute or so to reach the gate. They had to hurry…

Naruto sat down on a branch and took out the scroll he had in his pocket. He then took a deep breath and opened it. On the Scroll was a very complicated seal. Naruto had needed 3 Month to draw it down correctly, but he had managed to do it in the end. Naruto looked at Itachi one last time. He just nodded and put his hand on his shoulder. Slowly Naruto felt Itachi's chakra entering his own system. Naruto then bit his thumb and smeared it on the Seal. He started to go through a series of hand seals as fast as possible, but still making sure he didn't mess up. He ended with a ram seal and then spread his right arm. Palm facing the Kyuubi. He closed his eyes and then proceeded to channel chakra into the seal that now lay in is lap, until he felt a tug. And then a Chakra thread shot out of Naruto's palm and connected with the Kyuubi, just in the moment where the Kyuubi reached the gate. Naruto had a look of concentration on his face, and he noticed his chakra reserves depleting fast, even with Itachi's constant supply. He then closed his right hand around the thread and pulled. Itachi looked on with fascination, as the Kyuubi suddenly seemed to fall asleep, and as soon as Naruto had started to pull on the thread, Itachi saw how the thread that was originally made of blue chakra slowly turned red and was absorbed into Naruto. And then. Poof. The Kyuubi was gone.

As soon as the Kyuubi was gone, he could feel Naruto go from his grasp. He turned his gaze to Naruto, just in time to see that he was clutching his chest with a painful expression on his face and slowly started to tilt to the side. Itachi was not fast enough though and Naruto fell from the tree. Itachi sprung after him, and was barely able to cushion his fall. Itachi had managed to grab him and change the direction of the fall by pushing away from the tree.

Both Itachi and Naruto now laid at the base of the tree. Naruto was still in deep pain. His eyes were shut closely, and he was sweating a lot.

"Naruto, what is it?" Itachi asked while slowly getting up and walking towards him.

"It feels… as if my chest… is being ripped apart. It hurts like hell!" Naruto answered, stopping sometimes to take a breath.

"Well, you did just seal the strongest tailed beast into yourself. I mean, there had to be a reason why your father never told anyone about the technique. I guess because of the toll it takes on one's body, only Uzumakis can even attempt to perform it. Are you holding up?" Itachi stated and then asked looking worriedly at Naruto.

"Yeah… it's getting better. But… for a moment, I really thought… I was done for." Naruto said and started to sit up.

Itachi helped Naruto stand up, as he fell again the moment he tried to get up. He put Naruto's arm around his shoulder and started to walk. "We need to head back to the Shelters, or people will get suspicious. We'll just tell them you were hit by a flying piece of rock or something." Itachi said and kept walking in the direction of the shelters. "By the way, who was the Hyuuga you left the boys with?" Itachi asked looking down to the blond.

"You… don't know her?... She's a good… friend of your mom though." He said still stopping midsentence. "And mine too… by the way. They were… in the same graduating class." Naruto said. Slowly, his breathing became more even, he was now trying to walk a bit more on his own. "Hitomi Hyuuga… She's the wife of Hiashi-sama, the head of the Hyuuga clan... Her daughter Hinata is the same age as Kei and Sasuke-kun, so mom used to take me to their get together." Naruto added.

"Hmm." Was the Uchiha's answer.

XXX

"Sensei! Minato!" Tsunade shouted and ran towards the two arriving Shinobis. She stopped when she saw that both were carrying their wives. Kushina was by now silently sobbing and was looking at the corpse in her arms, and Biwako… was not moving at all. Tsunade not being the best Medic that the world had ever seen, knew right away that there was nothing to be done, except. "I'm so sorry…" She said sadly.

Both Hiruzen and Minato nodded in thanks. "How is the situation?" Minato asked trying to change the subject. He couldn't think about their daughter or Biwako now. There was too much to take care of at the moment. Hiruzen seemed to think the same as he looked expectantly at Tsunade as well.

"Well, I just got notice that most civilian were moved to the shelters, but half the village was destroyed, and there is a high number of causalities, as well as a lot of injuries." Tsunade answered. Making sure not to look at the in blood covered baby in Kushina's arm, or at Biwako. She was already at her limits, seeing all the injured people. She had gotten better in the last 5 years, since she came back to the village, but she still couldn't look at the blood without feeling her body freeze. The only reason she hadn't run away yet, was probably because she knew that this would cause even more death. So even if she didn't participate in the treatment of the injured. Her being there seemed to have a calming effect on the rest of the Medic-Nins.

"I see… Well at least, the attack is over." Minato said with a sigh. He lost many people today. "Koumori (Bat)." Minato called the Bat-masked ANBU.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" The ANBU with a Bat mask asked while kneeling.

"Go ring the all clear. We need as many hands as we can get. Everyone who is willing is to help with the search and rescue of the injured. And then I would like for you to find my sons. Bring them to my house." Minato stated.

"Hai!" Bat answered and left in a Shunshin.

"Minato!" A familiar voice shouted out to Minato.

XXX

Itachi and Naruto had just arrived at the shelter. Naruto was now able to walk on his own again, but still got Itachi's worried glances every few seconds. As if he was expecting Naruto to fall over any moment. After all, Naruto was still sweating a lot.

"I'm fine. Really. Dattebayo" Naruto said and even gave Itachi a goofy grin.

Itachi just frowned, which resulted in Naruto sighing. "You're really a worrywart, Itachi." Naruto said.

"Well sorry for worrying about my friend who just went through something that would kill anyone else." Itachi stated annoyed at his friends antics.

"Naruto-kun, Itachi-kun!" They heard a woman shout. They turned to look at her. It was Hitomi. "Thank god your back. You took a lot longer than you should have." Hitomi said and looked both boys over.

"Gomenasai, Hitomi-san. You see, Naruto here was hit by a flying piece of rock and had some troubles walking afterwards. So it took us a bit longer to get back." Itachi said while bowing to Hitomi.

"What?! Naruto-kun are you ok?" Hitomi asked turning her gaze from Itachi to Naruto.

"Hai, I'm sorry. I was careless." Naruto said bowing to her as well. "But I'm fine now." He added and smiled at Hitomi.

"Ah, and the Kyuubi has disappeared. I thought you might want to know." Itachi stated. Suddenly there was no more noise in the room, and everybody stared at the two of them.

"Is… Is that true? It's gone?" Asked a man from inside the crowd.

"It's true. You can't feel it because of the seals inside here but. It's gone." Naruto stated. "But I'd still wait for the all clear to sound." Naruto added and just in that moment, there was a loud ringing. The all clear. "See. There it is." Naruto said smiling.

That's when cheering erupted from all corners. Naruto and Itachi were meanwhile lead to their younger brothers, who were curled up in a blanket together with Hinata, which made both Itachi and Naruto smile.

"Naruto-sama?" asked a voice from behind Naruto. Naruto turned around and looked straight into the Bat-masked ANBU. "Hokage-sama has asked me to bring you and your brother to your house." The ANBU said.

Normally Naruto would have told the ANBU to not address him with _–sama_ , like he had done with Panda. But Naruto was only thinking about what Koumori had just told him. Naruto breathed a sigh of relieve. His father was ok. He turned to look at Itachi. "Go. I'll head back to the compound too." He said to the Blond. "Take it easy ok." he added quietly, so that only Naruto heard. The blond nodded in response and smiled. He then picked up the still sleeping Kei and bowed one last time to Hitomi "Thank you very much for watching him for me, Hitomi-san." He said and then added in a sheepish voice. "And… well… Could you maybe not tell my parents about this? They'll surely get angry at me if they find out…"

Hitomi had to laugh at that. "Alright Naruto-kun. I promise I won't tell a soul but… You owe me one" She said with a wink and a smile.

Naruto grinned at that. "Sure thing Dattebayo!"

Naruto then walked over to the bat. "Alright Koumori-san, I'm ready." Naruto said.

Bat then proceeded in taking Naruto's outstretched Hand and Shunshined out of the Shelter. They soon arrived in front of the house. Koumori let go of his hand and took a step back.

"Your parents should be here soon." Koumori said and turned away. _"Poor kid. Can't really tell him his sibling is dead…"_

"Thank you, Koumori-san." Naruto said and waved at the ANBU.

The ANBU then disappeared in a Shunshin and Naruto went into the house. The house of the Namikaze was rather close to both the Shelter and the Hokage tower, so it wasn't destroyed during the attack. Naruto went past the Livingroom and straight into Kei's nursery, where he gently put Kei in his crib. Next he ran into the bathroom that was on the same floor. He put his head over the toilet and started to throw up. _"Fine my ass… I feel like shit"_ Naruto thought and stared at his shaking hands. He had been able to pretend that he was fine in front of Itachi, Hitomi and Koumori. But the truth was, that he felt like his body was on fire. The pain was almost unbearable, but at the same time, he was slowly getting used to it, which was the main reason he was even able to walk. He then grabbed his shirt and pulled it up. There it was. On his stomach. A big and very complicated seal. And it was moving. The chances of the Kyuubi getting out were very slim. As long as Naruto didn't die, the Kyuubi would stay sealed. But the seal had nevertheless not fully set on Naruto yet. Hence why it was still moving. And why Naruto still felt like he was going to collapse any second. He took a deep, shaky breath and went downstairs. He then sat down on the sofa in the Livingroom and waited. Waited for his family to arrive.

XXX

"Fugaku. Good to see you're alright." Minato said and turned to his friend who was running up to him.

"Same to you." Fugaku said and looked at Kushina. And the Baby. He frowned. "I'm sorry."

Minato shook his head. It wasn't the time. "We need to get the injured to the hospital and retrieve the dead." Minato said. "And I need to get Kushina home." He said and looked at his wife.

Fugaku nodded. "Do that." He said and then the all-clear sounded. "Good. We'll get some help then." Fugaku added looking in the direction of the shelters.

"We'll gather the deceased on Training ground 22." He said loud enough for all Shinobi around him to hear him. The order slowly travelled to the Shinobi farther away as well. "It's right next to the graveyard and it's the biggest we have as well." Minato said, this time without raising his voice.

Fugaku nodded. "We can take care of things for a while. Go."

"He's right Minato, Sensei you too. We can look at things for a while." Tsunade said to the two.

"Thank you, but I'll stay. I'll bring Biwako to the training ground first though. Now is not the time for grieving." Hiruzen said while looking at his deceased wife before turning to Minato.

"Hiruzen's right. I'm the Hokage. I can't grieve yet. I'll bring Kushina home and…" Minato stopped. He didn't have a name for the girl. They had chosen against finding out the gender and thus hadn't come up with a name. They had a few choices but, they had never really decided.

"Akemi."

Minato looked down at Kushina. It was the first time she had said something since the hut.

Kushina looked up. "Her name is Akemi."

Minato nodded. "Ah. Akemi. We need to bring her to the others, Kushina. You understand right."

Kushina nodded, but tears went down her face again. Minato held her close again and looked at Fugaku and Tsunade. "I'll be back soon." He said and started to run over the roofs that were still standing. He could go faster, but that would only shorten the time they still had with their child. Hiruzen apparently thought the same, as he was running next to Minato at the same pace. Nevertheless, they arrived at the training ground faster than they had wanted.

Although the order to bring the deceased to training ground 22 was only just given, there already were a great number of people on the field. Either putting down the bodies in the row, or crying over their family member, friend or lover. Minato and Hiruzen looked at each other and nodded. They went to the end of the row of bodies, where a young girl, probably no older than 12 was just being laid down. The Shinobi that put her down looked up at the Hokage and his predecessor. He saw that both were carrying a corps. The shinobi bowed to both and started to leave.

Hiruzen and Minato looked at the corpse of the young girl. " _So young."_ Was the thought that went through both their minds. Hiruzen then proceeded to put Biwako down next to the girl, and Minato put Kushina to her feet. Reluctantly, Kushina let Minato take the girl from her arms. She started to sob again when Minato put the girl down next to Biwako. But not before wrapping his Cloak around her. He looked a last time at his daughter, Akemi, before turning back to Kushina. He put an arm around her and then looked at Hiruzen.

"I'll see you again in a bit. There are a few things we need to discuss." Minato said before, this time, disappearing in a yellow flash.

XXX

Naruto looked up when he heard his father arriving in the Livingroom. His first reaction was to smile, as he saw both his father and his mother alive. But the moment he actually looked at them, his smile faded from his face, being replaced by a look of confusion. He also felt like something was missing. He couldn't tell what it was right away. His father and mother were there… His father and his mother… without his sibling. His mother was sobbing badly into Minato's chest, and Minato looked devastated. _"No! Please no!"_ Naruto thought and shot up from the sofa, ignoring the pain that shot through his body when moving, and ran towards the two of them.

"Tou-chan, Kaa-chan!" Naruto said in desperate voice. Minato look down at Naruto and gave a sigh of relieve at seeing is son alright. Kushina on the other hand looked down at Naruto and started sobbing harder again.

Minato noticed this. _"An age she'll never have reached."_ Minato thought sadly. _"Maybe…"_ He thought of an Idea to help Kushina _._ "Naruto. Where is Kei?" Minato asked in a monotone voice.

Naruto was taken aback by his voice, but answered nonetheless. "He's upstairs. He fell asleep some time ago."

Minato nodded and lead Kushina upstairs. "Tou-chan." Naruto grabbed Minato's arm. "The little one?" Naruto asked in a light, yet pleading voice.

Minato shook his head and moved again, leaving Naruto behind. Naruto just stood there. Tears slowly running down his cheeks. He then walked after Minato and his mother. Minato brought Kushina into Kei's nursery a made her sit down on the armchair. He then went to the crib and took Kei on his arm. He walked to Kushina again and put Kei in her arms. Kushina took Kei in her arms right away and held him close. _"He isn't Akemi, but he is closer to a newborn than Naruto. She'll need time. We all will…"_ Minato thought sadly and saw Naruto walk up to Kushina. Kushina started crying harder again once she saw Naruto.

"Naruto. Come with me." Minato said and walked out of the nursery.

"Tou-chan…" Naruto said sadly and looked at Minato.

Minato took Naruto in his arm. "I'm sorry Naruto. But Kushina… your Kaa-chan needs some time right now. She just had to let go of her child. And right now, you remind her of Akemi. Both in looks, and the fact that you're already older, and she's thinking of how Akemi will never reach the place you are now…"

Naruto figured that Akemi was the name his parents must have given the little one. _"So she was a girl…"_ Then Naruto frowned. Something his dad said didn't add up. "But, Kei isn't a baby either. He is already 2 years old… So why is Kaa-chan alright with him being close?" Naruto asked sadly. He really wanted to go into the nursery and hug his mother. But he had realized himself that she probably wouldn't calm down with him around.

"You're right." Minato said a held his oldest son's shoulder. "But, Kei is still a baby. He is also closer to Akemi's age… There's that and… Kushina has spent most of her time with Kei since he was born… I'm not asking of you to understand but…"

"No. I understand, Tou-chan." Naruto said and forced himself to smile. _"If it will help Kaa-chan. I'll give her time."_ Naruto thought, while still feeling sad over the fact that right now, he would have to stay away from his mother. Not completely, but still, not like before. Naruto then realized something else. "Tou-chan. How are you doing?" He had lost his daughter as well after all. Yet here he was… Taking care of his wife and trying to cheer Naruto up.

Minato was taken aback by the question, but he gave Naruto a small smile. "I'll need some time as well." Was his answer. He then ruffled Naruto's hair and stood up. "I need to get back now. There are a lot of things I have to take care of." Minato said and then walked into his bedroom. He came out a second later wearing a new coat. "Naruto, you were with Itachi-kun and Sasuke-kun during the day right?" Minato asked.

"Hai. They're both fine as well. They should be back in the compound by now." Naruto answered, already knowing why he asked. Fugaku would probably like to know his sons were alright.

"Good. Thank you." Minato said and turned to leave. "And Naruto, good job watching your brother today." Minato said over his shoulders and disappeared in a flash.

Naruto stared at the place his father had stood for another few seconds, and then walked over to the nursery, but stayed at the doorframe. Kushina was still holding Kei closely to her chest, rocking back and forth. Naruto stared at his mother for a bit longer and then move to his room. He closed the door and then activated the seals that he had put on the wall of his room about a year ago. Silencing seals. Now, no matter what, Kushina wouldn't hear him.

Naruto then slowly walked over to his bed and lay down. He looked at the ceiling. He put his right arm over his eyes and then, he started to cry. He cried because of the pain that was still rushing through his body, because his father had to leave again, even though he really needed him to be here right now and he cried because his mother would want to stay away from him for some time. But most of all, he cried because he had lost his sibling. His younger sister that he had never met and would never meet. Akemi. Killed by the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The beast that had destroyed half the village and had killed most likely hundreds of people in the short time he was in the village. The beast that was now sealed inside of him.

XXX

 **Alright. Surprised? Not so much? Hope you like it.**

 **See you soon. Your PupleShadow95**


	4. Chapter 4: Blame

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

XXX

Chapter 4: Blame

Naruto woke up with a shout. Again. He had not slept a night through since the day the Kyuubi attacked, and it had been 4 days since then. 4 days. So, today was the funeral of all the deceased people from the attack. Naruto got up. He was covered in sweat, like he had been the past mornings as well. He looked at the watch on the side of his bed. Even though he already knew that it wasn't even 5 in the morning yet. He went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. The cold water was running over his face, and Naruto thought back to the events of the past days.

In those 4 days, Kushina had spent most of her time in the nursery. Naruto had made sure to stay away, but with having a little interaction with her nevertheless. He always brought her the food, or a coffee every now and then. Her reaction to him wasn't as bad as the evening they had come back. Her look still turned sad whenever she looked at him. And although she had talked to him and thanked him whenever he brought her something. She had not touched him since then. No hug, no kiss on the forehead. Nothing. Mikoto and Hitomi had come over as well. Mikoto, who had been on a mission during the attack, had come over the 2nd day, after she had heard of Akemi from Fugaku. It did Kushina good to have her friends around. She had even smiled a bit. Kei meanwhile was doing well. He did notice that their mother was sad, but he didn't really understand the reasons. He was still just 2 years old. Hitomi and Mikoto had also brought their toddlers with them, so that they could all play together.

Itachi had spent the days with his father. He had wanted for Itachi to help out at the police station. Of course, he wasn't supposed to do anything too difficult. Well, nothing physically difficult. Fugaku had placed Itachi in the office, where he was supposed to help the villager find out what had happened to their family member. That at least was what Mikoto had told him. He hadn't actually seen Itachi since the time in the shelter.

Minato had spent the last 4 days almost constantly in his office, so Naruto had barely seen him since then. Only sometimes in the morning, when Minato was leaving and Naruto had just gotten up. But they hadn't really talked.

As for Naruto, he had trained. He couldn't spend all the time in the house, and he wasn't allowed to help in the village either. He would only get in the way, according to his father. And when he had asked Fugaku if he could help with something like Itachi was doing, he was told that he would do better to just spend time with his family, something that he couldn't do at the moment. So he did the only thing that would somehow take his mind of the things that had happened. Training. Thankfully, the pain he was going through because of the seal was now gone. The seal had set well on Naruto's stomach the day after the Attack and so it was not bothering him.

During those 4 days, Naruto noticed a few changes to his body that came with the sealing of the Kyuubi. For one, his Chakra reserve had increased dramatically. Probably the reason he felt like he was on fire after the sealing. The Kyuubi's chakra had probably opened his chakra coils more and the fox's chakra had leaked into his own system. The fact that he had a lot more chakra messed up his chakra control pretty badly, so he had been working mainly on that in those days, as well as Kunai throwing. Which led to the last discovery. Naruto, due to being careless, had cut himself with a Kunai. It hadn't been a deep wound, but a wound nonetheless. He was just about to leave to find Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice and thus a Medic-Nin, so that she could heal it, when he noticed a tingle on the wound. When he looked at it again, it was gone. So he now had a fast healing ability. Something that would always come in handy.

Naruto turned off the water of the shower and dried himself. He then went back into his room and put on his training gear. He then went out of the house into the clearing he and Itachi usually trained in. The clearing he had spent the past 4 days in. Naruto started with his usual warm up, and then started his exercises on chakra control again. He had managed to run up a tree again, something he wasn't able to do on the 1st day. And he had an approximate factor on how much his chakra reserve had increased. His reserves had approximately increased by a tenfold. So, if his feeling on that was correct, he'd have to use about ten times less chakra to do the water walking exercise as well. So Naruto went onto the lake and tried to walk on it. He was swaying at first, since the amount he used wasn't quite right after all, but he managed to stand on the water after about 10 minutes. He worked on chakra control a bit longer and then went on to Kunai throwing.

While he was now again on the same, or maybe a bit less, level of chakra control than before the sealing, he had certainly improved in his Kunai throwing. He was able to hit the target's bullseye until he reached a distance of approximately 50 feet. He was also able to hit the target when it wasn't right in front of him. Like the targets hanging in the trees. Because Naruto had been in the clearing alone for 4 days, he was used to the silence. So when there was a sudden rustling of leaves and the noise of a twig breaking behind him, Naruto reacted on instinct. He turned around and threw the Kunai he had in his hand in the direction of the noise. Directly at Itachi.

Itachi looked surprised but dodged the Kunai by rolling to the side right away. He then got up again and stare impassively at Naruto. "Really?" He asked in a monotone voice.

Naruto just stood there. Completely shocked at what he had just done. "Itachi! I'm sorry. I didn't… I wasn't…" Naruto tried to explain but somehow wasn't able to.

Itachi let go of a sigh. "Don't worry. At least it shows that our training bears fruit." Itachi said and shrugged his shoulders. He then looked at Naruto. He had heard about his sibling from his parents. "It's been a while since we saw each other." Itachi said and walked towards Naruto. He then sat down at the base of the tree behind the blond. Naruto followed suit.

For a while, no one said a thing. Both just stared at the sky. Itachi was the first to break the silence. "How are you?" He asked simply.

Naruto turned to the side and forced a smile. "I'm fine." He lied. Naruto didn't really want to lie to Itachi. After all, he had never lied to him. But he had been asked this question so many times, and he had always answered with _I'm fine_. So it came out automatically.

Itachi frowned. "Stop lying. How are you? Really?"

Naruto dropped his smile and sighed. "Seriously…" Naruto then looked up at the sky again. "I'm holding up. Somehow." he stated. "Things are a bit complicated at the moment… Tou-chan is at the office all day, and Kaa-chan barely moves out of the house. Seeing me makes it even worse so I try to stay away. But, well… It's not easy." Naruto said and sighed. It did good to talk about it.

"I see… I'm sorry about your sibling, Naruto. I don't know what you're going through right now but… If there is something I can do to help. Just say it." Itachi said.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Naruto said. "How are things at the compound?" Naruto asked turning his head to Itachi again.

"Well, the casualties of the clan were kept at a minimum. Right now, it's mostly a lot of work at the station." He answered.

"Yeah, Mikoto-oba-san told me when she came over last time. Are you alright? I heard your job wasn't quite the easiest." Naruto inquired.

"I'm alright. The guys at the office made sure I wouldn't get the people that were looking for dead family members, but those that were looking for injured people in the hospital." He answered. "But say, is the pain gone now?" Itachi asked curious about the effect of the sealing.

"What are you talking about? You know that they were gone by the time we had reached the shelters." Naruto said. He really didn't wasn't Itachi to worry even more about him.

Itachi started to glare at him. He didn't say anything, but his stare did. It clearly said _Don't you dare lie to me again_.

Naruto started to laugh sheepishly. "Fine you got me. I should have known that you were able to look through my act that day… But don't worry. It's gone now. It went away sometime during the night that followed the attack."

"Hmmm… And any notable changes so far?"

Naruto grinned. "Yep. Turns out I have now a cool healing ability and my chakra reserves have increased by a tenfold or something like that. But my chakra Control was messed up pretty badly cause of that." He said and put his hand behind his head.

"Hmmm. So nothing too bad then? That's good." Itachi said and then the two were silent for some time again.

"Well I gotta head back. Kaa-chan must be getting ready for the funeral by now, and I should get changed too. I'll see you later?" Naruto asked over his shoulder after he had gotten up.

Itachi just nodded.

XXX

Naruto arrive back at his home at around 9:00. Like Naruto had thought, Kushina was currently getting ready. Minato had come back as well. He just came out of his bedroom, wearing black pants and a black sweater. Kushina also came out in this moment, wearing a black Kimono. She held Kei on her hip, who was also all in black. A black jumpsuit.

"Naruto, there you are. Please hurry and get changed so we can leave." Minato said to his son and turned back to Kushina and put an arm around her.

"Hai." Was all he said, before he went up to put on his clothes for the funeral as well. Black pants and a black T-shirt. He put on a black hooded jacket over it. He ran downstairs again. "I'm ready."

"Good. Let's go." Minato said and stretched out his had to Naruto. This one took it and then they all disappeared in yellow/red flash.

They arrived a small distance from training ground 22, where in the last few days, the dead people had been buried and were given a gravestone. The training ground was now the Graveyard of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's attack. In the middle of the new Graveyard was a big square Stone.

They all walked into the training ground. Minato at the front. They walked past a lot of people. Almost all of the village was present. Of course, not all were able to fit on the graveyard, but they were dispersed all around it. Minato made a sign that said that Kushina and Naruto were to wait here. Naruto and Kushina stopped and placed themselves next to Tsunade, who was in the front row.

Minato arrive in the middle of the graveyard. Right next to the stone.

"To all of you that have come today. Thank you. Today, we are here to honour the tragic deaths of all the people that have fallen at the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune 4 days ago. As you all know, the Kyuubi was originally sealed away into my wife, Kushina. And due to unforeseen circumstances, the Kyuubi escaped, and attacked the village. The Kyuubi was defeated later on, but nevertheless, the Kyuubi no Kitsune has taken the lives of many people important to us. Our family, our friends or our lover. All of the Shinobi that fought the Kyuubi in order to protect the village, and all civilian that were not able to escape it, shall forever be remembered." Minato stated in a loud voice. He had lied when he told them that the Kyuubi was defeated. But he couldn't tell them that he didn't know what happened, and more importantly, where it was. He and Hiruzen had been working their brain off trying to figure out where it went. And why it left in the first place. "We have created a Memorial stone where all the victims' names shall be engraved. Right now, we still do not have the exact Number of deceased, and so not everyone's name has been added yet. But they will be engraved as well." Minato said and turned to the stone next to him. He took out a white flower and put it on the grave. He then bowed his head to it. "Now more than ever is a time where we have to stick together. The losses we have experienced are felt by everyone. We all lost someone during this attack, but the will of fire of all of them will live in us." He finished his speak and walked back to Kushina. The people then started to walk up to the memorial stone and put a flower, one after the other, onto it. When it was Naruto's turn, he looked at the stone. On top was engraved. _To always be remembered_ and below, all of the names. There were around 500 names on it, but he found the Name he was looking for right away. He let his finger glide over it and put his flower down. _Akemi Namikaze_.

Naruto let his gaze wander and stopped when he saw Itachi. He was next to his mother and was talking to her. Minato and Kushina, with Kei in her arm, were currently talking to Tsunade.

"Naruto-kun. How are you doing?" Asked an elderly voice from behind him.

Naruto turned around and looked at his surrogate grandfather's face. "Jiji… I'm fine. How are you?" he lied.

"I'm fine as well." Hiruzen answered.

Naruto sighed. That man could read him like a book. "So now that we so greatly lied to each other…" Naruto said and his gaze turned sad. "I'm sorry about Biwako-obaa-chan." Naruto said with a tear rolling down his cheek. He hurried and wiped it away. Looking towards his parents and letting go of a relieved sigh that they hadn't seen him.

Hiruzen looked at the scene with sad eyes. "I'm sorry too. I wish I could have done something." said and crouched down. He looked Naruto in the eyes. "You're a strong boy, Naruto. But it is no weakness to cry, you know." He said kindly.

"I know. I just don't want them to worry. They have enough on their plate as it is." Naruto said glancing at his parents.

"You're a good boy Naruto. If you ever need someone to talk to, my home is open anytime." He said with a kind smile and got up again. "I need to take care of a few things, Naruto. I'll see you soon I'm sure." He said and slowly walked away.

"Ja Ne, Jiji." Naruto said and walked over to his parents. Making sure he stood a bit behind them, so his mother wouldn't see him. Minato saw him come nearer and smiled a small smile over his shoulder at Naruto before turning around again to continue his talk with Tsunade.

XXX

Naruto was walking through the street of Konoha. It was shortly past noon. The funeral had ended about one hour before. His father had left for his office again and Kushina had accepted Mikoto's offer to join her and Hitomi for lunch. So the three woman were now at the Uchiha compound to eat lunch. Itachi had joined his father again and was currently working in the office. Even though they had been able to find out exactly what a happened to most of the missing Shinobi or Civilian, there were many missing, and many people that were in the hospital, but not recognizable or still unconscious. Itachi was put in the group that was to identify the, until now, unknown people in the hospital.

So Naruto was now walking around, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to train at the moment. Just didn't felt like it. Naruto was walking next to an ally when he heard something that made him stop in his tracks and listen to the conversation.

"The Hokage really has gotten weak, don't you think?" A Shinobi asked his counterparty. The Shinobi must have been in his mid-thirties. He had long brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing the traditional Shinobi uniform.

"More than that, he actually lied to us. _Due to unforeseen circumstances!_ " The other Shinobi spit out. He had short, black hair and grey eyes. He too was wearing the traditional Shinobi uniform. "I saw him when he came to the graveyard with Sandaime-sama. His wife was carrying a dead new-born. Obviously she was giving birth that day!" He exclaimed.

"Are you serious, Shin?" The brown haired Shinobi asked.

"I'm telling you Masao. I was just dropping of a young girl that had been crashed against a wall, when they both arrived." Shin exclaimed. "God and I might just be a Chunin, but I know that the stress of giving birth must have broken the seal." He stated.

"But his wife has given birth before. And nothing happen then!" Masao said.

"Well he must have gotten weaker during the years. I don't know, but maybe it's time we should get a new Hokage!"

"What do you mean?" Masao asked surprised. "I mean sure, he probably isn't as strong as before, but he still defeated the Kyuubi…"

"Of course he's strong. But he obviously knew of the dangers of birth, and yet he kept it a secret. We could have prepared for an attack! We could have saved so many lives! My wife and my daughter would still be alive. DAMN IT!" Shin shouted at the end. The anger was written in his face. "It's his fault. The Hokage brought this upon us!" Shin said now with determination. And Masao's face seemed to agree with him, if the expression on his face was any indication for what he felt. Anger was written on both of their faces.

The two of them where so absorbed in their conversation, that they didn't notice Naruto walking up to them.

"That's not true!" Naruto shouted.

"What… You!" Masao said surprised.

"Shit." Shin said under his breath. He stared at Naruto. "How much did you hear?" Shin asked while turning towards Naruto.

"Tou-chan isn't at fault!" Naruto shouted ignoring Shin's question.

"And who else is at fault then? Care to answer that you brat?!" Shin shouted back.

Naruto lowered his head. _"They need a scapegoat? Fine…"_ Naruto then said silently. "It's mine."

"What? I didn't hear you." Shin said.

"I said: It was my fault!" Naruto stated while raising his head and looked straight at Shin "You're right. Tou-chan knew that the seal on Kaa-chan would be weaker. But there was never the danger of the Kyuubi breaking free. Tou-chan had it perfectly under control."

"But then why did it break free? Answer!" Shin shouted, his confidence on Minato being at fault was vanishing with every word Naruto said. And Naruto saw that.

" _Good."_ He thought and kept on lying. "During the delivery, I interrupted my father. I made him lose concentration. That's why the Kyuubi got free. It was my fault! I'm the reason you lost your family!" Naruto stated and looked straight into Shin's eyes.

That's when Masao jumped into the conversation. "Stop lying, brat. You were at the shelters. My daughter said that you and the Uchiha heir were both there and told the people the Kyuubi had disappeared." He stated.

"Tou-chan brought us back after the Kyuubi got free. I met up with Itachi and we headed to the shelters together." Naruto answered confidently.

The hate and the anger that were on Shin's face previously and had been directed at Minato, were now directed at Naruto. Solely on Naruto. "You!" Shin shouted and dashed forward, delivering a punch into Naruto's face, who crashed into the wall. Because they were in the alley, and most people were currently working on reconstructions elsewhere, no one saw how Shin attacked Naruto. And his attack didn't stop with a punch. He proceeded to kick him in the gut. And soon enough, Masato had joined the beating as well. They kicked him again and again. Naruto noticed the blood that was running out of his mouth. Then, after what seemed to be an eternity, they stopped.

"You will pay for that! For killing all of these people you will pay!" Masao stated.

"Yeah. Your life will become a living hell from now on. I'll personally take care of that." Shin said and walked out of the alley, followed by Masao, who spit on Naruto when he passed him.

Naruto meanwhile was barely conscious, but somehow was able to sit up and lean on the wall. _"They'll probably go around and tell the people about this… At least, they won't blame Tou-chan anymore."_ Naruto thought before slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

XXX

Naruto woke up hours later by a lick on his cheek. He looked down to see a small dog. The dog was grey, but had a few patches of black here and there. His ears were both black and he had a brown and a blue eye that were staring into Naruto's.

"Hey little guy, thanks for waking me." Naruto said and patted the dog's head. The dog answered with a bark.

Naruto then slowly started to get up, putting the dog to the side. His ribs hurt really badly. If he was right, some were probably broken. _"Shit. How am I gonna hide the fact that I can barely move?"_ Naruto thought and looked at himself more, there was almost no blood on him. _"Hmmm… Maybe I should go ask Baa-chan for help."_ Naruto thought and started to walk slowly out of the alley. The dog followed him.

"Sorry buddy, but I can't take you with me." Naruto said to the dog and crouched down to scratch the dog's ear. Ignoring the pain that shot through his body at the movement. The dog had no tag, so it was most likely a stray dog. "Even if I was allowed to take you with me, it would be dangerous for you. People will treat me a lot differently now, so they could try to hurt you too." Naruto said to the dog, who barked and slowly ran down the alley again. Leaving Naruto were he stood. _"Smart dog."_

Naruto walked then out of the alley and started to walk down the road, while all the while holding his aching ribs. He made sure that the people he walked past wouldn't see him by hiding in the shadows. He then soon arrived at the hospital, and went up to the counter.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Tsunade Senju." Naruto stated to the woman that sat at the counter.

The woman looked up. She had shoulder-length light brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing a white sweater.

"Down the hall. Third door on the right." She said and looked down on her papers again.

"Thank you." Naruto said and started to walk down the hall while holding his ribs.

Naruto stopped in front of the door. _Tsunade Senju – Head Medic_ stood on the plaque next to the door. Naruto knocked three times and waited.

"Enter." Was heard from the inside.

Naruto walked in. "Yo, Baa-chan!" He said cheerfully.

"Naruto! What are you doing here?" She asked surprised.

"Ahh, you see… I kinda fell down the stairs, and… I think I broke some of my ribs… I was wondering, if you could take a look?" Naruto asked while putting his hand behind his head, regretting that right away as a shock ran through his body and made him wince.

"Really Naruto. You should be more careful." Tsunade said with a sigh and got up and came forward from behind her desk. She then motioned for Naruto to sit on the Table next to her desk. "Take off your shirt and then I'll have a look." She said.

Naruto did his best to pull off his jacket, but needed Tsunade's help in the end to take off both the jacket and his shirt.

Tsunade looked at Naruto's abdomen. _"What the… That isn't from falling down stairs. Those are marks from a kick. And there are a lot of them..."_ Tsunade put her palm on Naruto and her hand started to glow green.

In that moment there was a knock on the door and then the door swung open. "Tsunade-sama, I think I found out who the man with the burn marks on the face in room 106 is." Itachi stated while looking at a clipboard. He then looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. "Naruto… What happened?"

"Haha… Fell down the stairs…" Naruto grinned sheepishly and put a hand behind his head. "Ouch" He cried out as Tsunade apparently put something in its place again.

"Hm. You really are an idiot." Itachi stated, but his glare said _You better tell me later_.

"I just wasn't paying attention where I was walking." Naruto said. But his look said _Sure_.

"Well and who is that man Itachi-kun?" Tsunade interrupted.

"Ah. Hai. A Civilian. Yukihira Masato." Itachi answered.

"All right. Good work. Have his family come and confirm it."

"Hai. Naruto, I'll see you later." Naruto knew that Itachi wouldn't keep quiet until he knew what had happened, so the two would meet later, meaning at midnight, in their clearing.

"Ja Ne. Ouch. Baa-chan that hurt." Naruto said to Tsunade, who just ignored it.

After Tsunade was done, Naruto got up and pulled his shirt back on. It still hurt, but not as much as before, so he was able to put on his cloth on his own.

"Thanks Baa-chan. And… could you please do me a favour?" Naruto asked.

"Depends on the favour. What do you want gaki?" Tsunade asked after she sat down behind her desk again.

"Well, I wanted to ask you to not tell my parents about this?" Naruto asked sheepishly. "They have enough on their plate right now without having to worry about me…" Naruto said. Using the same line he had used with Hiruzen.

Tsunade looked at Naruto for a moment. " _He's hiding something. But why?"_ Tsunade thought and looked at him. "Alright Naruto-kun. I won't tell them. But if something like this happens again, I'll tell them." Tsunade stated. She then took out a book and started writing in it.

"Thanks Baa-chan!" Naruto said with a goofy grin. Then he looked at the book that Tsunade was writing into. "Baa-chan what is that?"

"That is your medical file. Everyone that comes into the hospital has one. The Medic-Nin writes down the injuries and the treatment of the patient and whatever the Medic deems important enough to write down." Tsunade answered and finished her writing."

"But Baa-chan… How is someone supposed to read your writing? It looks encrypted." Naruto asked as he had appeared behind Tsunade and was looking at the book.

"You brat. Get out now before I change my mind and throw you out." Tsunade said in a playful angrily tone.

"Haha. Then, thanks again. And see you soon." He added and ran out of the door.

" _Stupid gaki… I have to keep an eye on him"_ Tsunade thought after she watched Naruto leave.

XXX

Naruto had gotten home late that evening. He had missed dinner, so he was expecting some kind of scolding from his parents. But when he came into the house, Minato was already tidying up the table, and Kushina had apparently gone back to the nursery.

"Ah, Naruto. There you are. Sorry, we ate without you. There's still something in the fridge if you're hungry." Minato said and brought the dishes into the Kitchen to wash them.

"Ah… sure. Thanks" Naruto said and followed his dad in the kitchen. Minato washed the dishes real fast and then turned to Naruto.

"I need to head out again. Don't stay up to late." Minato said and went upstairs to tell Kushina.

Naruto stayed in the kitchen to eat his dinner, some rice and vegetables, and then went up to his room. He went to the nursery and went to his mother.

"Kaa-chan, sorry for being late for dinner…" He said.

"Naruto. It's ok." Kushina said and smiled at Naruto. It wasn't the big smiles she used to give him. But at least, she didn't start crying when she saw him now.

"I'll be going to bed now. Good night Kaa-chan." Naruto said and left the nursery to go into his room.

"Good night." Was her answer.

Naruto went into his room and activated his silencing seals. He then laid down on his bed. He had a meeting tonight. So he wanted to sleep a bit before that.

XXX

Naruto had just slipped out of his window and was now running through the village into the clearing, where he was supposed to meet Itachi. He arrived in the clearing at the stroke of midnight. There was a full moon that lighted the clearing, and Naruto saw that Itachi was already there, leaning against a tree.

"Yo!" Naruto greeted and raised his hand.

Itachi just nodded in greeting. "How are your rips?" Itachi asked.

"They're fine. They don't even hurt anymore." The blond answered and hit his ribs once to prove that he was telling the truth.

"Good. Now how did you broke your ribs?" Itachi asked getting straight to the point. His voice made it clear he wanted to hear the truth.

Naruto sighed. "Today, when I was strolling through the village, I heard two shinobi talking. They were talking about the Kyuubi attack, and how Tou-chan lied to them. One of them saw that Tou-chan brought Akemi to the training ground and kind of figured out that the Kyuubi broke out because of the stress the birth put on Kaa-chan." Naruto said. "Anyway, they were basically blaming Tou-chan for all the deaths." Naruto said with furrowed brows.

"That's bad. If people start to mistrust your father, things could get ugly." Itachi stated worriedly.

"That's what I thought too. That's why… I told them that it was my fault…" Naruto said and looked at Itachi's reaction.

"You…" Itachi started, but then thought about it. He then sighed. "So they believed you and then they took it out on you?" Itachi asked.

"Pretty much…" Naruto said.

Itachi looked up at the sky. "That was a good choice. If people were to start a rebellion or something… It would be seriously bad." He then looked at Naruto. "But will you be able to handle it? You basically just took the blame for the death of over 500 people."

Naruto then turned to Itachi. And smiled. A real smile. "That's ok. The people need a scapegoat. So I'll be it. I mean, because of the Kyuubi, I have a real good healing ability too. So even when I get hurt. I'll be fine in no time again. Dattebayo" Naruto said and then looked at the sky again. "And… I was able to help Tou-chan." Naruto said with the smile still on his face.

XXX

 **Hey Guys. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Just wanted to say, that the reason I've been able to publish 4 chapters in about 2 days is because I have Holidays at the Moment. But I really need to do some School work during that time. So I won't be able to update so fast anymore. I'm still planning on updating a chapter all 2 days or so... If I actually manage to do that. Anyway, just wanted to let you know.**

 **Thanks a lot for the Reviews :) See you soon.** **Your PurpleShadow95**


	5. Chapter 5: Academy

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

XXX

Chapter 5: Academy

Naruto was beyond excited. Today was the day he was going to enter the Ninja Academy. It had been one month since the Kyuubi attack, and things slowly started to calm down again.

"Calm down Naruto." Said a laughing Minato, who stood next to Naruto in front of the Academy.

Minato had spent a lot of time in his office after the Kyuubi attack, and even though there was still a lot to take care of because of the damage, Minato had taken an hour off to accompany Naruto to the Academy.

"Nii-chan will be a Shinobi!" Kei stated from behind them. He was currently holding Kushina's hand and was grinning widely.

Kushina was doing a lot better. She had insisted on accompanying Naruto as well. Something that made Naruto more than happy.

"Kushina! Minato-kun!" Shouted a voice from their right.

They all turned to look at Mikoto, who had Sasuke on her arm and Itachi walking next to her.

"Itachi! Yo!" Naruto shouted while waving his right arm. The sleeve of his jacket slipped down and exposed Naruto's right arm, which was wrapped in a bandage.

"Naruto, what did you do?" Minato asked frowning at his son's injury.

"Ah.., This?" Naruto asked while pulling the sleeve of his jacket over the bandage again. "I scraped myself when I fell yesterday. It's nothing. I just didn't want the ointment to ruin my jacket." Naruto lied and put his hand behind his back smiling sheepishly.

The wound Naruto had was actually a burn he had gotten the evening before from a shinobi. While things had calmed down in his family, they hadn't really with the village. The news about Naruto being responsible for the Kyuubi attack made its round really fast, but it seemed that the villagers were smart enough not to tell people they knew liked Naruto, or those that wouldn't dare to touch the Hokage's son, since those would certainly do something against the attacks. The attacks came all few days. The attackers made sure that Naruto couldn't see their faces, so that he couldn't reveal them to his father, even though the two Shinobi that had attacked him on the first day were still walking around, so it was obvious that Naruto hadn't told his father.

Naruto also hadn't gone back to Tsunade to heal his injuries. After all, she would certainly tell his parents about it if he were to come every few days.

"Show me." Minato said.

Naruto looked up to his father. Itachi and Mikoto had now arrived beside them and were looking at the scene before them curiously.

"Ah. Sure." Naruto took of the bandage. Yesterday evening it had looked pretty badly. He had had blisters and his arm had been pretty swollen. He hadn't looked at it this morning, so he wasn't really sure what it would look like now. Once the bandage was off, Naruto released a mental breath. What yesterday seemed like a second degree burn, was now nothing more than a slightly reddened skin. "See, almost gone." Naruto said and smiled a goofy grin at his father.

Minato released a sigh. "I told you to be careful Naruto. Can't have you injure yourself." He said in a reprimanding tone that cause Naruto to lower his head.

"Gomen, Tou-chan. I'll be more careful." Naruto said. He looked up when he felt Minato ruffle his hair.

"You better be." Minato said and smiled. Causing Naruto to smile as well.

They suddenly heard a commotion from the Main entrance of the Academy. The new students were slowly entering into the building.

"I guess that's our cue." Itachi stated in his favourite stoic voice.

"Alright. Let's take the Academy by storm. Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed with a goofy grin.

"Alright. Have fun you two." Minato said and smiled at both Naruto and Itachi.

Mikoto used that moment to kiss Itachi on the cheek. "K-Kaa-san…" Itachi said and one could almost see a tinge of red on his cheeks. Almost.

Kushina came over to Naruto as well and hugged him. In those two month, Kushina had started to get closer to Naruto again. She had even apologized for her behaviour, and said that, although she would still need some time, she didn't want to exclude Naruto anymore. "Have fun." She said and kissed him on the cheek as well.

"I will. Ja Ne!" Naruto said and waved his parents, Kei and Mikoto goodbye. Followed closely by Itachi.

"So?" Itachi asked once they were out of hearing from their parents.

"Fire Jutsu." Naruto answered Itachi's unspoken question about what caused the injury. The two boys entered the Academy. "So, what do you think we'll learn today?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"No idea." Itachi answered monotonously.

"Show some excitement Itachi! We're taking our first steps to raising in the ranks!"

"It's the Academy, Naruto. For the next 6 years we'll be studying the basics."

"Doesn't matter. You're not getting my mood down."

"Wasn't trying to."

Naruto and Itachi went into the classroom they were assigned to. There were already a few Students in the classroom, who apparently were all very excited, since they were talking loudly to one another.

"I swear! I'll be the strongest Shinobi in no time!" exclaimed a boy with brown hair he had put in a ponytail, who was in a small group of students in the back right corner.

"I wonder if it will be difficult." Said a girl with short black hair who in a group a few feet from the door Naruto and Itachi had just entered from.

"This will be fun." Naruto sad to Itachi.

"Excuse me, but will you stay here all day?" Said a female voice from behind Naruto.

Naruto turned around and looked in the eyes of a girl with shoulder length brown hair, and black eyes. She wore black tights and a large red T-shirt that almost seemed like a dress since it reached slightly above her knees. The most distinguishable feature were two red triangles she had on each cheek. She had her hands on her hip and looked at Naruto slightly annoyed. Itachi silently murmured "Inuzuka" from next to Naruto.

"Ah gomen." Naruto said and scratched his head. He then stretched out his hand to her. "Namikaze Naruto. And this expressionless guy next to me is Uchiha Itachi. Pleasure to meet you." He said and showed at Itachi with his head.

The girl seemed to be taken aback for a second, but her Mother had told her that the Hokage's son would be in the class this year. "Nice to meet you." She said and grabbed Naruto's hand and nodded towards Itachi, who nodded back. "Name's Inuzuka Hana."

"Alright kids. Please move towards a desk and sit down." Said a Kunoichi standing behind Hana.

Itachi was the first to move and went to a desk in the middle row of the classroom and sat down at the end of the desk. Naruto followed suit and sat down in the middle, with Hana sitting down next to Naruto. It didn't take long for all the students to sit down and look expectantly at the Shinobi in the front. The Kunoichi had long, platinum blond hair, green eyes and wore a whit Kimono-blouse that was held by a grey obi, and wore the traditional blue shinobi pants.

"Alright. My name is Yamanaka Midori and I'll be your Instructor for the years to follow. I would like to start today with a round of introductions, so that we all get to know each other a bit." She stated and leaned at on the teacher's desk. I'll start. As I already said, my name is Yamanaka Midori, and I'm from the Yamanaka clan. I am Chunin in rank. My likes are my family, flowers and teaching. My dislike include rude people and war. As for my dream, I want to teach all of you enough, so that one day you'll be strong Shinobi." She said and ended her introduction with a smile. "Now. How about you?" She pointed at the brown haired boy that had exclaimed that he would be great someday, right before class started.

"My Name is Takahiko Daichi. I like my family and Barbeque. I dislike broccoli. And I'll be the greatest Shinobi ever!" He exclaimed once again and raised his fist in the air.

"Nice to meet you." She then turned her gaze to the boy that sat next to him.

"I'm Kazuya. I like my family at the orphanage and I dislike war. My dream is to become strong enough to support my family." He stated.

This went on until the Midori's gaze reached Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi. I like my family and training and I dislike traitors. My dream is to protect the village." Itachi stated in a monotone voice, which caused the remaining students to stare at him. Naruto just laughed at Itachi's antics.

Midori then looked at Naruto. Her gazed turned darker when she saw him. Naruto noticed that and realised that she probably knew of the rumour going around about him.

"I'm Namikaze Naruto. I like my family and training. I dislike war and traitors, and my dream is to become strong enough to protect all the people important to me." Naruto stated with a grin.

Midori's eyes widened for a moment and then she turned her gaze to Hana.

"Inuzuka Hana's my name. I like my family and our dogs and I dislike cats and war. My dream for the future is to become a respectable Kunoichi and to lead the vet station." Hana stated proudly.

Once all the Students had introduced themselves. Midori took the word again.

"Good. Now that we know a bit about each other, I would like to show you what we will learn in the next 6 years." She said and walked towards the black board behind her desk. She then started to write different subjects on the board. "History, geography, science, mathematics and Kunai-throwing will be covered in the first three years." She said and started writing on the board again. "In the last three years, we will cover chakra control, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu in both the theoretical aspect, as also in the practical aspect. We will also have special lessons where you will learn the basics for Medical-Ninjutsu." Midori stated and pointed at the different subjects for the last three years. "Questions?"

Naruto raised his hand. During Midori's explanation, Naruto had slowly started to lose his excitement. And now tried to make sure he hadn't misunderstood.

"Hai?"

"Ano… Does that mean, that during the first three years, with the exception of Kunai-throwing, we will only work on theory?" Naruto asked fearing the answer.

"That is correct." She said.

Naruto's face fell. Itachi meanwhile looked at Naruto's reaction with amusement. "Told you. It's the academy. You weren't seriously expecting to learn high ranking Jutsu the moment you come in right?!" He said silently while Midori had gone back to explaining the curriculum.

Naruto turned to Itachi. "Of course not. But seriously? Three years of theory? I'll go crazy!" Naruto said and laid his head on the desk.

XXX

The rest of the day went on without too much trouble, and soon the bell rang announcing the end of the 1st school day.

Naruto held the books he had gotten from Midori in his arms. "Well that was boring." Naruto stated. "You up for some training?" He asked Itachi, who was walking beside him. Same books in his arms.

"Sure. Kaa-san isn't expecting me home any time soon, and Tou-san wants me to train anyway."

"Sweet. But let me seal those away first." Naruto said and took a scroll out of his pocket. He opened it and put his books on the seal that was drawn on it. He then pushed chakra into the seal and the books disappeared in a poof of smoke. "Want me to seal yours too?" Naruto asked.

"No it's ok. I'll carry them." He answered Naruto just shrugged. "Okay, let's go then." Naruto said grinning. "See you tomorrow, Hana-chan." Naruto said to Hana who was coming out of school behind them. Then he started running towards the forest, Itachi on his toes.

Once in the clearing, Itachi and Naruto started with the usual warm up and then went on to throwing Kunai. Itachi was now working with 2 Kunai, while Naruto had moved on to throwing Kunai while running. He was able to hit all targets, and was rather close to the bullseye. Because of the Academy, they didn't have much time left to train before they had to go home, so they finished their training with some stretches and then went home.

Naruto made sure to avoid the people on his way back and soon reached his house.

"Tadaima!" Naruto shouted.

"Okaeri Naruto." Kushina said from her spot on the couch. "How was school?"

"It was boring. Did you know that for the first three years there's only theory?" Naruto asked his mother. She was currently reading a book.

"Well, your father changed the curriculum, so that there is no early graduating until the age of at least 8. So he had to put the Theoretical part of the academy together. It's better like that." Kushina stated not looking up from her book. But then she looked up and looked at Naruto sternly. "But don't say that it's boring, Naruto. It's an important part of being a shinobi to learn those things. It's not all about fighting." She said, and turned back to her book.

"Hai, Kaa-chan." Naruto said and looked down. "I'll go to my room. I got some homework to do." Naruto said and went up to his room.

Once in his room, Naruto automatically activated the silencing seals and sat on the ground and unsealed his things from school. He quickly did his homework and then continued his studies in sealing. He had recently reached Level 3 out of the 10 Levels of sealing. And he really enjoyed drawing seals. He was about half through the 2nd Level 3 book, when he heard his father.

"Naruto, time to eat. Come downstairs. And take Kei with you will you?"

"Hai." Naruto shouted, only to realise a second later that his father wouldn't hear him, and deactivated the seals. "Hai. Coming!" Naruto shouted again and went to pick up Kei in the nursery, who had been sleeping until Naruto came in. He then went to eat dinner.

XXX

It had now been 3 month since Naruto started the academy, and his opinion on it had not improved. The good thing about the academy was that he had made another friend. Hana had stuck with Itachi and Naruto after the first day, and thus they had become friends. Midori turned out to be a really good teacher, but the subjects weren't interesting to Naruto at all, and so he had, to Midori's annoyance, slept during most classes. Well, the fact that classes were really boring was one of the reasons Naruto slept during classes. The other was, that he usually trained until late at night, and thus was really tired.

Itachi would usually train with Naruto after the Academy, but wouldn't come to Naruto's night training, since Fugaku had started Itachi's training in the evening. Naruto had asked Minato as well, but he had told him he wouldn't have the time to teach him because of his Hokage duties. Instead, Minato had given Naruto a scroll on a Taijutsu style, and told him he could still ask him if he had any questions.

Naruto was now sitting in class with all the other students. They were waiting for Midori, who was somehow running late. 15 minutes after class would have started, Midori came in holding a stack of paper.

"Alright, sorry for being late. The printer was making some troubles." She apologized. "Ok. Everyone here?" She looked through the students. "Good. Today, we will have our first exam." Midori stated with a smile.

Naruto turned pale. He had not studied anything at all on the subjects they had learn the past months. He stared at Itachi with a desperate face. He knew what he thought would be important to know as a Shinobi, like, where the other Hidden Villages were situated or what the villages were famous for. Things like that. But there were so many different things covered in the lesson that he just didn't deem important, and thus didn't bother learning. So basically, he remembered about one tenth of what they had learned here since they stated. _"Not good… extremely bad…"_

"How much do you remember?" Itachi whispered from next to him. Naruto didn't answer. Which actually was a perfect answer to Itachi. "Don't worry. As long as you don't mess up Kunai throwing, you'll be fine." Itachi stated.

"Right…" Naruto said, but he didn't sound confident.

Midori started to hand out the papers. "If you cheat, you'll regret it." She said menacingly.

Naruto looked at the paper. He was so nervous, he was barely able to read the questions correctly. Much less answer them. He was able to answer 15 out of the 100 questions. _"God I'm so dead…"_ Naruto thought after he had handed the paper to Midori.

Midori looked at the paper and saw that most questions weren't answered. She looked at Naruto and shook her head. "We'll now go outside for Kunai throwing." She said to the class.

Naruto was now breathing heavily. "I can't mess up. I can't mess up…" He repeated like a mantra.

Itachi looked worriedly at Naruto. Naruto was having a bad case of exam anxiety. "Naruto, it's just an exam. Even if you fluke it's not the end of the world. This isn't the graduation exam. Just a simple test." Itachi tried to calm the blond down. It wasn't working. Naruto was sweating bullets, and his breathing was going fast. Itachi was sure that his friend would have a quite accelerated pulse if he were to check.

Midori had started to call out names randomly. A few students had already passed, when she called out. "Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi looked at his friend one last time and then walked up into the training field of the academy. They had to throw 30 feet from the target. Itachi took the 5 Kunai and threw one after the other at the target. All hitting Bullseye. Cheering erupted from the students. Midori nodded and wrote down the points on her board. Itachi then walked back to his place between Hana and Naruto.

"Wow Itachi. That was really good." Hana stated impressed.

"Thanks." Was all he answered.

Another two students had passed before Midori finally called out. "Namikaze Naruto."

Naruto cringed. He took a deep breath. "Naruto. You can do it. It's only 30 feet. And one Kunai at a time." Itachi said, trying one last time to have Naruto calm down.

Naruto walked up to the field, and took a Kunai in his hand. His hand was shaking. _"Oh great."_ Naruto thought. Naruto closed his eyes and took another deep breath. He then threw the first Kunai. It past the Target by about 3 feet. _"Damn. Come on… I can do this."_ Naruto then took another Kunai and threw it. And the next. And the next. None had hit the target. He then took the last Kunai. "Damn it!" Naruto shouted and threw the last Kunai. This time hitting the target, on the point farthest from the centre.

There were murmurs from the students and Naruto saw how Midori sighed and wrote down his score.

Naruto went back to his place next to Itachi. He was lost in thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Naruto. It's not the end of the world." Itachi told him.

"That's right Naruto. You'll just do better next time." Hana said trying to cheer her friend up.

"Yeah… Thanks." Naruto said dejectedly.

XXX

That evening, after eating dinner with his family, Naruto sneaked out of the house again. He had not told his parents about his exam, in hope they simply wouldn't hear of it. Naruto walked through the streets and thought about his day at the academy. _"How could I mess up like that? It was 30 feet for heaven's sake. I should have been easily able to throw it… God I made such a fool of myself."_ Naruto was in such deep thought that he didn't notice that two men were approaching him. He only notice when he walked into one of them and fell on his butt. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I went." Naruto said and looked up. Only to notice that it was Shin, the man from the first beating, and another man Naruto didn't know.

"Well look at that. It's the demon." Shin said. People had started to call him demon about 2 weeks ago, since he was at fault for the demon's attack, he might as well be the demon himself, according to the villager that had first called him that. The name had soon been used by all other people when he wasn't in the presence of anyone.

"Ah… Shit." Naruto muttered. Naruto had accepted the fact that he was seen as scapegoat. But that didn't mean that he was walking right into the beatings. He tried to stay away as much as possible, which is why he wasn't beaten daily. And tonight he simply hadn't paid attention.

Before Naruto knew it he had been dragged into an alleyway and thrown at a wall. The beatings came right after he crashed against the wall. The man that was accompanying Shin grabbed Naruto and put his Arms behind his back, so that Naruto was facing Shin. And Shin hit him again and again. Punch in the face, kick in the gut. Things Naruto had felt for a few times now. But then Shin took out a Kunai. He crouched down so he was on Naruto's level and looked right into Naruto Blue eyes. He then cut his cheek. "Do you feel the pain? Let me tell you that this is nothing." Shin stated and proceeded to cut on Naruto's chest, right through the cloth. Naruto felt the blood flowing down, and gritted his teeth. But he didn't shout. "Is that how you want it? Fine." Shin said and plunged the Kunai into Naruto's abdomen. Even though Naruto didn't want to, he involuntarily let out a shout.

"Shin? Are you crazy? He's definitely going to tell his father! We're both going to get killed." The man stated.

Naruto was slowly losing consciousness. Shin was fading from his view more and more.

"Don't worry. That brat won't tell a soul. He hasn't told his father a thing, and he won't in the future either. Isn't that right?" Shin asked Naruto, but the blond didn't answer and fell into darkness.

XXX

Tsunade was working late in her office again when she suddenly heard a bark from outside her window. Tsunade got up from behind her desk and walked towards the window. She opened it and looked out. There was a small dog that looked into her eyes.

"Listen up here, I have work to do so go away." Tsunade said to the dog and wanted to turn away, when it barked again. This time louder and more often. "Hey I told you…" That's when Tsunade looked at the dog more closely. It was grey with black ears and a few black patches over his fur. But what made her gasp was the fact that there was blood on his paws. "What…" Tsunade shivered. She didn't want to see blood. "Go away. I don't take care of dogs. Go to the Inuzukas." Tsunade said through gritted teeth. The dog barked again, and started to run back and forth, barking all the while. "What… you're not hurt? But then, whose blood… Wait… you want me to follow you?" Tsunade asked the dog. She felt slightly stupid talking to a dog, but it seemed like a smart dog. It barked again, as if confirming that. He then started to run away.

"Ahhh… Damn." Tsunade said aloud. Her Medical Instinct acting over her fear of blood, she grabbed her Haori from the chair and jumped out of the window, after the dog.

She didn't have to run long. The dog had run through the streets and then turned into an alley way. He stopped when he was in front of a dark shape. When she got closer she recognised what it was. Or rather who. Naruto was laying on the ground. Covered in blood. A Kunai was in his abdomen and he seemed to have bruises on his face as well. "Oh god Naruto!" She shouted out and ran at his side. She then started to shake. Blood. Way too much blood. She thought back to her little brother, to her fiancé, and couldn't move. After what felt like an eternity, she felt a lick on her cheek. She turned to the side to look at the small dog. It barked. _"God… Get it together Tsunade. This is Naruto. I have to help him!"_ Tsunade though and put the dog under her arm and picked Naruto up. She then moved as fast as she could towards the hospital into her office. She put Naruto down on the examination table and looked at his injuries. _"The worst injury is the puncture. Got to take care of that first."_ She thought and started to take of Naruto's jacket and his top. She had to cut through it in order to not move the Kunai. She then went to work. She slowly took out the Kunai and started her treatment. Luckily, there wasn't anything live threatening that was punctured. She finished closing the wound after about 15 minutes and then went to work on the cuts across his chest and the bruises on his face and on his gut. After she was done she covered Naruto with a blanket and sat down in her chair. The dog that had silently watched from the sides had now jumped onto the examination table and laid down next to Naruto. Like a guardian he watched him sleep. Tsunade got up again and scratched the dog behind his ear. "You're a good boy. Thank you for getting me." She said to the dog. She then looked at Naruto again. "Can you watch him until I get back, I have to get his parents." Tsunade said to the dog again and turned around. Only for her wrist to be grabbed.

"Please don't." Naruto said weakly. "Don't get them. I'm fine. It's nothing."

"Nothing?! Naruto, you had a Kunai stuck in you. You were beaten and cut. Don't try to lie and say you fell again!" Tsunade almost shouted.

"So you knew that I lied?" Naruto asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't you say anything Naruto? I don't know who did this to you, but this time I'm definitely going to tell your parents." Tsunade said seriously again.

"Please don't. I have my reasons, so, please don't say anything. Something really bad is going to happen if you tell them." Naruto pleaded. "Please… don't…" Naruto fell unconscious again.

"What the…" Tsunade sighed. _"Might as well find out his reasons…Tomorrow."_

XXX

 **Yay, next chapter done.**

 **Now about Naruto** **messing up the Kunai throwing, even though he could have aced that part, if you ever had Test anxiety, then you know that you can mess up things that you would normally be able to do in your sleep.**

 **Hope you liked it. See you soon. Your PurpleShadow95.**


	6. Chapter 6: Expectations and Decision

**Hey guys, next chapter is out ^^**

 **Enjoy and thank you so much for the Reviews. It's great to know there are people actually read what I write ^^**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 6: Expectations and Decision

Naruto woke up with a shout. He jerked from his laying position and took a deep breath. He took a look around the room. This wasn't his bedroom… This was… _"Baa-chan's office? But why…?"_ That's when he remembered the evening before. The beating, the Kunai and Tsunade that had found him and healed him. _"Damn it! She probably called Tou-chan!"_ Naruto cursed in his mind. That's when he felt something wet on his hand. He looked down to see the small dog that had woken him up after the first beating, though slightly bigger, lying next to him and licking his hand. "You..? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked the dog. This one just answered with a bark and wagged his tail at the now awake Naruto.

"Good to see you're finally awake." Said Tsunade from the doorframe. "That little guy there pretty much saved you. He came to get me yesterday. That was a real bad beating you got there gaki." Tsunade stated and walked over to sit in front of Naruto.

"Baa-chan… Did you inform my parents?" Naruto asked in a panicked voice.

"No. I didn't." Tsunade stated and watched how Naruto let go of a deep breath. "But you better tell me what's going on or I might just change my mind and go get your father right in this instance." She said sternly.

"Ah… You see… It's…" Naruto begun.

"Naruto!" Tsunade almost shouted. "Explanation. NOW!"

Naruto remained silent for another few seconds and then sighed. "It's because of the Kyuubi attack." He said. "On the day of the funeral, I overheard some Shinobi, who were talking about the attack being Tou-chan's fault. That he knew there was the danger of the Kyuubi breaking free and that he just kept quiet…"

"Wait a second. How would those Shinobi even have known about Minato knowing that the Kyuubi could escape?" Tsunade interrupted.

"One of them saw how Tou-chan brought Akemi to the training ground, and they put two and two together." Naruto answered.

"I see. And what does that have to do with you being beaten?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, I kinda told them a lie…" Naruto said and looked away.

"A lie? What kind of lie?" She asked suspiciously.

"That I was the reason that the Kyuubi escaped. That my father hadn't told them anything because there was no danger, and that Tou-chan lost concentration because I interrupted him." Naruto said and looked at Tsunade. The horror was written in her face.

"Are you crazy?! Why did you do that?" Tsunade asked and grabbed Naruto's shoulders.

"Because, they mistrusted Tou-chan. You should have seen their hate and the anger in their eyes. No matter what. They can't mistrust the Hokage. There could have been a revolution, or who knows what!" Naruto exclaimed. "I couldn't just stand there…" Naruto said this time quietly and looking down. "Please don't tell my parents Baa-chan… I can handle it" He said adding a small smile at the end of his sentence.

Tsunade sighed. What he said made sense. If the Shinobi started to mistrust the Hokage, things could turn really ugly. But for a 5 year old to carry the burden on his own… _"Damn."_ She thought. "Alright. I won't tell them."

"Thanks Baa-chan!"

"Under one condition." She added and lifted her finger. "I want you to come to me whenever you get hurt, so I can patch you up again. Understand? And if it ever becomes too much, you say so right away. Am I clear?" Tsunade asked seriously.

"Hai. Thank you." Naruto smiled even brighter and gave Tsunade a hug.

"Alright gaki. Now, how about you introduce me to this little guy here." Tsunade said and caressed the dog on its head.

"Actually, I only met him once. After the first beating, he was the one to wake me up. Though I did tell him to stay away." Naruto said. "It's probably a stray."

"Yeah, it seems like that."

"I wonder what happened to his parents. He looks like a puppy. But I have no clue about dogs." Naruto said and stroke him as well.

"Well, apparently he likes you, or he wouldn't have come to your rescue twice." Tsunade said. "Won't you keep him?"

"I don't know if my parents would allow it. But that would be great without a doubt." Naruto said. He then looked outside the window. The sun was already high up in the sky. "Nee Baa-chan… What time is it?"

"It's shortly past noon. You slept quite a long time."

"Shit… I missed the academy. And lunch." Naruto stated and got up. "I'll make it for the afternoon class if I leave now." Naruto said and stood up. The dog got up as well and started waving its tail.

"Apparently, he wants to join you." Tsunade said and got up as well.

"I don't think it would be such a good idea to take him with me… Midori-sensei doesn't like me very much, she'll probably throw him out." Naruto stated dejectedly.

"Hmmm. Well, how about he stays here for the time being. You can pick him up after school, and if your parents don't agree on you keeping him, he can still stay here." Tsunade stated her hands on her hips.

"You would actually allow that?"

"Heh. I've taken a liking to this boy. But you'll have to find him a name." Tsunade said and stroked the dogs head.

"Yeah! I'll think of something today. I'll come by after school then." Naruto stated and hugged Tsunade. "Arigatou Baa-chan."

"No problem gaki." Tsunade said and hugged him back. "Now you better go, or you'll be even later." She said and let go of him.

"Hai. See you later." He said and stroke the dog's hair once more before running out.

Naruto arrived 5 minutes before Lunch break was over. He ran into the classroom, where the students that were already present turned to look at him. He ignored the stares and walked up to his place next to Itachi.

"Where the hell were you?" Hana asked from the seat next to him. Itachi didn't say anything, but the same question was present on his face as well.

"Hehe… Overslept?" It wasn't really a lie after all. He did sleep that long. Just not because he had been tired.

"Well then you might be able to stay awake during the lesson then." Hana stated with a laugh.

Itachi just stared. And Naruto answered with a stare that said _I'll tell you later._

The Bell rung and Midori came in. "Well how nice of you to join us after all Naruto-san. Please stay after the end of class." She said and turned to the black board to start the afternoon lesson.

XXX

After the test of the day before, Naruto had tried paid really good attention during class, and to follow what Midori was talking about. But somehow, his mind had wandered to finding a name for the little dog that had saved Naruto… So that he hadn't listened to today's lesson either, and when the bell rang, Naruto inwardly cursed.

Itachi got up from his seat. "I'll see you later then." He said and walked out with a waving Hana.

After all students had gone out, Naruto walked up to Midori's desk. "Eto… Midori-sensei, what exactly do I need to be here for?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

Midori just stared at him. "We'll talk about that in a moment. But we need to wait for a bit longer." She stated and looked at the papers in front of her again.

Naruto sat down on his seat again and started drawing on a piece of paper. After about 15 minutes, the door of the classroom opened. Naruto looked to the door and the moment he saw the two people that entered, his breathing stopped. His parents. _"Oh shit…"_ He couldn't help but think.

Minato looked at Naruto for a second and then turned to Midori. "Midori-san, good day." He stated.

Midori stood up from her desk and walked over to Minato and Kushina. "Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama. Thank you for coming on such short notice." She said and bowed her head.

"Not at all. It concerns our son after all." Kushina stated with a smile. She then turned to Naruto and looked at him curiously.

Naruto started to fidget on his seat. They didn't know why they were here. They had no clue.

Midori then addressed the two again. "How about we sit down?" Midori asked and motioned for the three chairs she had positioned in front of her desk. She then motioned for Naruto to come forward as well. Naruto came forward and sat on the seat on the right, while Minato took the seat in the middle and Kushina the last seat on the left. "Alright. The reason I called you here Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama, is because I am worried about Naruto-san." She stated.

"Worried? Why? Is there something wrong with how he is treated in class?" Kushina asked worriedly.

"Oh no. Naruto-san seems to get along fine with everyone in class. That is not the reason." She said hurriedly and then looked at Naruto. She then took out a file from her desk and passed it to Minato. "This is the result of yesterday's first exam." Midori stated and waited for Minato to look at the results.

Once he opened the file and looked at it, his eyes widened and he frowned at Naruto. "20 points out of 100? Seriously?" He asked with furrowed brows and with an annoyed tone.

Naruto just lowered his head and didn't say anything. "The average off this exam was 60 out of 100. And that is not all that is worrying me." Midori said and looked at Naruto again. Minato meanwhile turned his head again to Midori, waiting for her to speak again. Kushina just sat next to Minato with a frown and was now looking at the test results as well. "Naruto-san has a tendency to not listen in class. Actually, Naruto-san tends to sleep during most of my classes." She said and finally turned her gaze to Minato again. "I usually try to wake him, but he falls asleep a few minutes after I woke him. Unfortunately, I cannot focus my attention solely on him. I'm really sorry." Midori said and bowed her head.

"No, not at all. I'm really thankful for you trying." Minato said to Midori.

"But, that's strange. It says here that out of 5 Kunai, there was only one that hit its target. But Minato taught him that month ago." Kushina stated and turned to look at Naruto.

"He must have slacked of his training." Minato stated and looked at Naruto as well.

"I usually wait a bit longer before I contact the parents. But with him being Hokage-sama's son, it would be a bad for your reputation if his grades were to stay this way." Midori said. "Also, I believe it would be more beneficial if Naruto-san was to actually attend classes."

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked. "He always leaves early in the morning to attend classes." Kushina said.

"Well, usually he does attend, but today he came only for afternoon classes. I first believed him to be sick. But he obviously skipped." Midori stated and looked sternly at Naruto.

Minato sighed. "I see… Thank you very much for contacting us so fast Midori-san. We'll make sure to have a word with him." He said the last part of his sentence while strictly looking down at Naruto, who just sat there with his head lowered in shame. He hadn't said anything during the whole conversation.

"Yes. Thank you, Midori-sensei." Kushina said with a small smile towards the teacher.

With that, Minato, Kushina and Naruto got up and walked out. They walked home all the ways without saying a single word. Once they entered the house, Minato let out a sigh and turned towards Naruto. "Mind telling me, what exactly you were doing? How could you possibly score so low?" Minato almost shouted. When Naruto didn't answer, he continued. "No only you sleep during classes, you skip them as well!"

"Minato is right. What are you doing every day if you're not training?" Kushina asked sternly.

"I am training." Naruto said quietly. "I just messed up the throwing. That's all. And… The subjects are just really boring." Naruto said and raised his head to look at his father. Minato looked disappointed.

"If you're too tired during class, maybe you should stop sneaking out at night. You didn't even come back tonight." Minato said.

"That…" Naruto tried.

"Stop right there. I don't want to hear it. You have to realise who you are, Naruto. I can't have my son be the dead last at school. You're the son of the Hokage and the head of the Uzumaki clan. Act like it." Minato finished and went into the Kitchen.

Kushina sighed. "Listen to your father, Naruto. And start to take your training seriously." Kushina said, but the disappointment was present on her face as well. She then walked into the Kitchen after Minato.

Naruto just stood there for another few seconds. He then sighed and walked out of the house.

XXX

Naruto walked down the street to the hospital. He hadn't been able to ask his parents about the dog, but right now wasn't the best moment anyway. Not with them being mad at him. Yet he had still promised Tsunade that he would meet with her after school.

Naruto entered the hospital and walked straight into Tsunade's office. The moment he took a look around the office, he burst out laughing. He didn't stop until he was hit by a flying book curtesy of Tsunade. "You brat! Stop laughing!" Tsunade yelled, while desperately trying to get the dog to stop pulling at her Haori. It looked like the two were playing tug war. Tsunade would have overpowered the dog without trouble, but that would have resulted in hurting him, which she obviously didn't want to do. The dog, who had just seen Naruto, suddenly let go of the Haori and ran towards Naruto. Tsunade, due to the lack of counterforce, fell backwards on her butt.

"Hey buddy. Seems like you're having fun." Naruto said and crouched down to scratch the dog behind his ears. The dog barked as an answer.

"Yeah… Lots of fun…" Tsunade said irritated. "But you sure are late. What happened?" She asked and slowly got up. The irritation in her voice still present.

"Hehe. Sorry about that. I got in some trouble." Naruto said and smiled apologetically.

"Are you hurt?" She asked. The irritation in her voice replaced by worry in an instance.

Naruto looked up and smiled. "No, no. Not that kind of trouble. I messed up a test at school, and got scolded for it." He said and put his hand behind his head.

"Oh, really. What a surprise." She said with a smug smile.

"What do you mean? I don't cause that much trouble." Naruto said with a small pout.

"Sure. Which is why we had to have a genin team repaint the whole waiting room thanks to your last prank." Tsunade said sarcastically.

"Oh come on. White is so boring. Even Tou-chan found it funny." Naruto said with a grin. "But, now that I think about it. It's been a while since I pulled a prank. The last one was before the Kyuubi attack…" Naruto said and seemed to be deep in thought after that.

Tsunade meanwhile was frowning. _"Oh Damn. Now I remembered him…"_ She thought. "A-Anyway. Have you thought of a name for the little monster?" She said trying to change the subject.

Naruto turned towards Tsunade and grinned. "Yup. From now on, he's called Daiki." Naruto stated proudly.

"So ka. Daiki. That's a nice name." Tsunade said and strike Daiki's fur. "And, have you talked to your parents about keeping him?" She asked and looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

"No. Not yet. They were pretty angry…" Naruto said. "But I'll take him with me for now. He needs to get out a bit after all."

"That's good. Go get some food for him while you're at it. The Inuzuka should be able to provide it for you." Tsunade said.

"Ah right. Thanks." He said and then got up. "Alright Daiki. How about we go for a stroll?" Naruto asked the dog, who answered with a bark. "Then, I'll bring him back later?" Naruto asked with a small smile.

"I told you that you could bring him here. Now hush. I got work to do." She said making a sign with her hand that told him to leave, and walked back to her desk.

"Got it. See you later then." Naruto said and waved while walking out. "We'll first meet up with Itachi. He must still be waiting in the clearing." Naruto said and walked towards the forest. Daiki on his toes.

Arriving in the clearing, Naruto could see Itachi working on his aim. "Late." Itachi said turning around. He frowned and looked at Daiki. "What's with the dog?" He asked.

"Itachi, meet Daiki. Daiki, this is Itachi." Naruto introduced the two. Daiki went over to Itachi and sat down, looking up at him.

"And why is he following you?" Itachi asked and crouched down to caress him.

"He saved me twice. And now I adopted him." Naruto stated, and got a raised eyebrow from Itachi as a response. "Alright. He saved me once and woke me up once. He found me after the first beating and woke me up after I had fallen unconscious, and he found me yesterday evening, and brought Tsunade-Baa-chan to me, who then healed me." He answered his question. "And by the way, I told her about the lie."

"Was that why you were late for the Academy?"

"Yup." Naruto stated. "Slept 'till shortly past noon."

"And why were you kept by Midori-sensei?"

"Ahhh… 'Cause of the test yesterday. She informed my parents and they came to school today." Naruto said.

"Hmmm. How did they react?" Itachi asked while looking at Naruto from the corner of his eyes.

"They were pretty angry. Or more like, really disappointed… First time I saw them looking at me like that." Naruto said slightly saddened.

"I see… Did they say anything?" Itachi asked.

"Hmm. Well Tou-chan said that I should realise that I'm his and Kaa-chan's son, and that I should act like it. Also to take training more seriously, because I messed up the throwing."

"I see…" Itachi said, like he was hiding something

"What?" Asked Naruto who had recognised his tone.

"It's nothing."

"Talk." Naruto said and furrowed his brows. This wasn't like Itachi at all.

"It's just, it kind of reminds me of a talk I once had with my father. That as the heir I had to perform well. That failure wouldn't be accepted." He said and looked at Naruto.

Itachi had talked a lot about his father pressuring him to become a fine shinobi. That, if it hadn't been for his father, he maybe wouldn't have trained for more than a year, but he would have probably only started his training now, with all the other academy kids. So, with the way Itachi was phrasing it, Naruto knew what he was implying. "No. My parents aren't like that. They wouldn't put my achievement in being a shinobi over me being me." Naruto stated. "They were just… disappointed." Naruto stated weakly.

"I'm not saying they are… Just, that it's a possibility." Itachi said.

"No I'm sure of it. They aren't like that. I'll prove it to you." Naruto stated.

"And how will you do that?" Itachi asked with raised eyebrows.

Naruto grinned. "By being me of course. Well, almost." He added with a smirk.

Itachi sighed. "Just don't be too disappointed if they are like that in the end."

"Don't worry." Naruto stated. He then looked down at Daiki again, who was still being petted by Itachi. He had meanwhile turned on his back and let Itachi scratch his belly. "I think he likes you." Naruto said changing the subject.

"Seems like it."

"Well Daiki, if you want to be petted by Itachi all remaining day, that's fine with me, but I don't think I'll get food from the Inuzukas at night."

As if hit by lightning, Daiki shot up and started to bark.

"Guess he's hungry." Itachi stated.

"Hehe. Makes two of us. I missed lunch today..." Naruto said laughing and rubbed his belly. "Alright. Then I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto said and started to walk off. Itachi then resumed his aim training.

Naruto and Daiki walked for a while before arriving at the Inuzuka Compound. While not as big as the Uchiha compound, it was still of considerable size. Naruto walked up to the gate, where unlike the Uchiha Compound, there were no guards. Naruto walked inside and went to the first house that he saw, and was about to knock on the door when he heard a woman talk behind him.

"If you need help in finding your way, I might just be able to." Said a woman with long, brown spiky hair and slit-like pupils. She also had the typical red fangs tattooed on both her cheeks. She wore the traditional shinobi outfit. Next to her stood a big dog, that almost looked like a wolf, and was black with a white underside, and he wore an eyepatch over his right eye.

"Ah. I'm sorry for coming in without permission. I just got a dog, and I'm looking for food." Naruto stated and pointed at Daiki.

"Hmm. I see. Well then come with me, Naruto-kun." She said and walked away. Deeper into the compound.

"I'm sorry, but how do you know my name's Naruto." He asked, but walked after her nonetheless.

She laughed at that. "I hardly doubt there is anyone that doesn't know your name. You are the Hokage's son after all." She stated. "I'm Tsume Inuzuka by the way. The Head of the clan. And this is my Ninken Kuromaru." She said and pointed down to Kuromaru.

"Nice to meet you." Naruto said and looked at Daiki, who was now trying, with no avail, to get Kuromaru's attention by jumping at his head.

"So, how old is your pup?" Tsume asked and was now walking towards what seemed to be the Kettles.

"I don't know. He was a stray. We only met by chance, and I decided to keep him. I called him Daiki." Naruto stated, quite proud of himself.

"Oh. That's nice of you." Tsume said and was now entering the house that was connected to the Kettles. "Hana! Come help me for a sec." Tsume shouted.

"Coming!" Came Hana's voice back. Right then, Hana came into the room. She then noticed Naruto. "Naruto-kun? What are you doing here?" She asked perplexed.

"Getting food for his dog." Tsume said instead of Naruto. "Can you go grab a bag of Puppy food?" She asked and crouched down towards Daiki.

"Got it." Hana said and disappeared where she came from.

"Alright Daiki, come here. I'll take a look at you." Tsume stated.

Daiki walked over to her and let himself be inspected without any trouble. When Tsume was done, she looked at Naruto with a smile. "Seems like he is in good shape. Slightly to thin, but that is rather common with strays. And, he is 6 month old." She stated.

Hana then came up again with a bag of food, which she handed Naruto. "That's cool. Now we both have pups. Mine are still a bit young to take for strolls, but soon I'll take them too." She stated with a big smile.

"Yeah that's really cool." Naruto said. "Ah, Tsume-san, would it be alright if I pay you another time? I currently don't have a lot of money. But I promise I'll pay you back as soon as I can." Naruto asked.

"Haha sure. I'll put it on your tab." She said with a smile.

"Arigatou." He said with a smile. "Well I got to go, or I'll be late for dinner. See you tomorrow, Hana-chan. Goodbye, Tsume-san." Naruto said to the two Inuzukas. "Daiki, let's go." He called and Daiki came running in an instant, barking and waving his tail.

The two of them then walked back into the streets. Naruto bringing Daiki over to the hospital again and feeding him. Promising to come over again the next day.

XXX

 **Alright. Hope you liked it. See you soon. Your PurpleShadow95**


	7. Chapter 7: Enemies

**Hey guys, here I am again ^^**

 **First of all, sorry for taking so long, but my holidays are officially over and school started again. And I'm already behind… Thus it will take some time for me to update the story…**

 **Thanks for all the reviews. I'll try to work on what you pointed out. As for the reviews on my story being unoriginal, dumb or overused… I'd like to ask you to give me a chance to actually develop the story? 'Cause I never said he would be dead last for that matter. And I actually got something in mind for him entering ANBU without Minato's knowledge… Anyway. Enjoy ^^**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 7: Enemies

The now 8 year old Naruto jumped to the left evading a Kunai. He landed on a branch and pushed himself off again the moment he landed on it, this time avoiding a big fire ball that burned the tree behind him to crisps. His attacker was relentless. The moment he reached the ground he was once again facing a ball of fire. This time, instead of evading it, he went through a set of hand seals and shouted "Suiton: Water Wall." The Water, which was coming from the lake on his right, formed a wall in front of him and stopped the Fire ball, causing Vapour to erupt from the clashing Jutsu. Naruto used the obstructed vision to sprint forward. He took out a Kunai of his back pouch and slashed at the attacker he knew was now only a few steps away. Itachi though knew that Naruto was coming through the Vapour and blocked Naruto's strike with his own Kunai. Naruto then tried to sweep Itachi's feet away with his leg, but Itachi just jumped over it. He then countered with a punch that Naruto blocked with his arm. Itachi followed up with a slash of his Kunai, which Naruto evaded by putting some distance between them. Naruto once again went through a set of Hand seals and shouted "Doton: Earth Spikes." The Jutsu resulted in spikes coming out of the earth aimed at Itachi. Itachi jumped into the air to avoid them. Naruto smirked. He then put his hands in a snake seal, and activated the explosive tags right behind Itachi. Itachi's eyes widened for a second, but he caught himself fast, and then threw a Kunai at a tree to Naruto's left. He then pulled himself away from the explosion by using the wire attached to it. Itachi stood sideways on the tree and went through a set of hand seals once again. "Shadow shuriken" He shouted and threw a barrage of Shuriken at Naruto. Naruto took out two Kunai and deflected all of the Shuriken, normal ones and Shadow shuriken included, and jumped back again to put some distance between them. The two looked at each other for what seemed like hours, but was in fact, just a few seconds. Both thinking of a strategy to make the other lose. Naruto ran towards Itachi again, attacking him from all sides with Taijutsu. While Itachi was fast, Naruto was faster, and soon Naruto was able to land a hit into Itachi's gut. But Itachi managed to eject Naruto away from him by using Naruto's punch against him. Naruto slid on the ground before getting up again. Itachi seemed to get ready to go through hand seals again, when they were interrupted by Panda, who jumped in between them. Both Naruto and Itachi relaxed from their fighting stances and stared at the "newcomer", knowing full well that he had watched their spar from the beginning.

3 Years ago, Minato had revoked the Mission to watch over Itachi and Naruto's training from Panda, because he had needed him for missions, considering that Konoha had lost a great number of shinobi. So Panda had only seen Itachi and Naruto a few times during the first year after the attack. Both Naruto and Itachi had been really glad when Panda had visited them 2 month after the attack. They had been scared that something might have happened to him. Panda had wanted to make sure the two didn't have a trauma from the attack whatsoever, and also to tell them that he wouldn't be watching their training anymore. He had only recently started to come by again, not on an order but simply because he wanted to, about two weeks prior and had been quite impressed with their progress.

"Yo, Panda." Naruto said while smiling and raising his hand in a greeting. Itachi just nodded at him.

"Hey boys. Sorry for interrupting, but you did say that you wanted me to stop you if the fight took too long. And the academy starts in 30 minutes." Panda said. "You might want to get changed before that." He said and looked at the dirty cloth of both Naruto and Itachi. Naruto's training gear consisted of long black pants, a sleeveless, black shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the back, 2 pouches on his back, and one on his left leg. Itachi wore black pants as well, and then the traditional Uchiha shirt, with the Uchiha symbol on his back. Unlike Naruto, he only had one pouch on his back and one on his right leg.

"Yeah. Probably a good idea." Naruto said and put his hand behind his back. Showing the two of them his trademark grin.

Itachi nodded again and then both started to walk towards the outskirts of the forest. There, on the base of a tree, laid Daiki. The dog had grown quite a bit in the last three years, just like the two boys that were walking towards the dog. Itachi now stood at 4.2 feet, and Naruto, who was still smaller than Itachi, stood at 4.1 feet. Daiki jumped from his laying position the moment he saw them coming. He ran towards Naruto and let himself be petted by him.

"Alright, I'm leaving first." Itachi said and walked away.

"Alright. Later." was Naruto's answer. He then turned towards Panda. "Thanks for reminding us of school, Panda." Naruto said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Brat. Your father would get angry if you skipped. Isn't that right?" Panda asked with his hands on his hips. Naruto just scoffed. "By the way, I heard some rumours about you." Panda said and watched Naruto closely.

Naruto stiffened. During the last two years, the rumour of Naruto being the reason for the Kyuubi attack had gone around quite a bit, but it stayed within a certain group of people nevertheless. Naruto had noticed this by the fact that the attackers were, in general, always the same. Shin was a frequent attacker, as well as his friend Masao. And beside them, he could also tell which Shinobi or civilian had already attacked him. But as far as Naruto could tell, they really made sure not to tell the wrong people about this. After all, he still was the Hokage's son. So they had made sure that certainly no ANBU knew of this. At least, that's what Naruto had thought. If Panda knew, then other ANBU would too, and his father would be the next one…

"Really? What kind of rumour?" Naruto asked innocently. _"Please don't know about it…."_

Panda looked at him for a moment. "Apparently you know about the rumour then. Considering your reaction." He watched as Naruto seemed to stiffen even more. Before Naruto could say anything about the matter, he continued. "Mind telling me, how _you_ end up in the middle of the ranking at school? You should be fighting for first place with Itachi!" He exclaimed while raising his arms into the air, trying to empathise what he thought of the situation.

Naruto relaxed visibly, though it seemed to go unnoticed by Panda who was looking at the sky in that moment. _"Thank god."_ He thought. "Well you see… There's actually a reasonable explanation for that." He stated while putting his arms behind his head and smiling. "You see, it seems that unless it's Fuinjutsu, I'm really bad at theory. While being on top of Kunai throwing with Itachi, I barely manage to pass on the theoretical part… And because it both counts for the rankings, I kinda end up in the middle… Hehe…"

"Seriously? Why don't you study more then? You're obviously above the level of the others. You could concentrate more on theory."

Naruto grimaced at that. "Gah. I don't want to spend my time remembering things that I'll never need in my life. I'm a Shinobi. I don't have the time to calculate the trajectory of my Kunai when I'm in a fight. I just throw it. As long as I don't fail the exam, everything is fine. I have no interest of being top of the class." he ranted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Concluding the discussion about his academy grades.

Panda just sighed. "Whatever. Just make sure not to fail then." He turned around to leave. "I'll be on a mission starting today. Won't be here this evening. So I'll see you when I'm back." He said over his shoulder before jumping off.

"Come back safely!" Naruto shouted after him, but he didn't get an answer as Panda had already disappeared from view. Naruto let go of the breath he was holding and turned towards Daiki. "Alright. Let's go home."

Naruto and Daiki went on their way towards the Namikaze estate. Three years ago, after a lot of begging on Naruto's part, as well as the promise he would work on his school work, Minato and Kushina had allowed Naruto to officially adopt the dog. Naruto was more than delighted after that. Kei seemed to be really happy about that too, and always clung to his fur. And Tsunade… Well, she was quite happy about that as well, since there was no one around anymore that found it funny to eat her paperwork, something Daiki had started on the third day at Tsunade's office. It wasn't that the paperwork was gone, but that she had to fill out papers because the paperwork was gone, and still needed to do the paperwork that Daiki had destroyed. So she had even more work. And her Haori thanked her as well, since she had to sew it together again a few times because Daiki had been bored…

Naruto and Daiki walked past a few training grounds, as well as the former training ground 22. Naruto stopped and looked at the cemetery. He then turned towards it and walked inside. _"I have enough time to pay her a visit."_ Naruto thought and continued on his way to the middle of the cemetery. After all the deceased had been found and cremated, Minato had had a grave made for all of the victims, which were now dispersed around the memorial stone. Naruto stopped a few feet before the stone. He sat down crossed-legged in front of the grave stone of his little sister. Naruto let out a breath. "Hey there little one." Naruto said towards the stone with a small smile on his face. Daiki meanwhile laid down next to Naruto. Already used to those visits to the graveyard from Naruto's part.

Naruto had not visited Akemi's grave for the first year after her death. He had somehow evaded the cemetery like it was the plague. Only on his 6th birthday had Naruto visited her. It had been kind of strange. His parents had not said anything about her, and they had pretty much ignored the fact that it had been Naruto's birthday. Something he was sad about, but that he understood nonetheless. Naruto and Daiki had then started to walk through the village that was celebrating the Kyuubi's defeat in form of a festival, a festival that had been celebrated every year since then. And somehow, his feet that for a whole year had refused to lead him there, had lead him to the cemetery. That day, he had sat in front of Akemi's grave, and the only thing he said to her that day, after staring at her Name on the stone for hours was _Gomenasai. I should have come sooner. Happy Birthday, Akemi._ Since then, Naruto had visited Akemi's grave almost every day.

"You better start heading to school, Naruto. Being late is a bad habit." Said a voice from behind Naruto. A voice he knew all too well.

"You're one to talk, Kashi-nii. You're _always_ late." Naruto said with a smirk on his face when he turned towards Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi was around 6 feet tall and wore the traditional Shinobi gear. He had spiky silver hair, and his right eye was grey. For some reason, he covered his left eye with his leaf headband.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. He then took out a green book from his Kunai pouch and started to read. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said dismissively.

Naruto scoffed. "Heading towards the Memorial Stone?" This wasn't the first time Naruto had met Kakashi here. While Kakashi usually went to the KIA Memorial Stone, and not the Kyuubi Memorial Stone, he had made it a habit to pass through this Graveyard first, meeting Naruto a few times.

"Yup. Like usual." He said and looked at Naruto again. "You really should get going though. Academy starts in 10." Kakashi said and started to walk away, raising his hand without looking back. "See you around. Naruto."

"Yeah. See you around, Kashi-nii." Naruto said and got up together with Daiki. "I'll come back soon, Akemi. Next time I'll bring you some flowers." He said with a smile on his face and continued on his way towards the estate.

Naruto arrived in front of his home a few minutes later. He took a deep breath. He somehow wasn't really comfortable anymore when entering the house. To Naruto's dismay, his parents, unlike him, seemed to care a lot about his position in the academy. While his Tests weren't as bad as the first one. They still weren't as good as Itachi's. It had turned out that after he had studied a bit for the tests, enough to not fail the year, he was able to take the exams with quite ease. Itachi had said that he had probably simply been scared of being thrown out or something, after the written part of the first exam, and that he had messed up the throwing because of that. And that since that fear was now gone, so was his test anxiety. Adding to that, Naruto had stopped caring about his grades. Again, as long as he studied enough to not fail. Which was almost impossible since his Kunai throwing was so good.

His parents, while being happy that he had managed to keep his test anxiety at a minimum, and wasn't at the bottom of class, were still displeased with Naruto's performance at school. Minato kept saying that Fugaku didn't leave him alone about Itachi being a better student than Naruto, which Minato found unnerving, because it was true, and thus couldn't talk back.

To Naruto, it seemed like his parents were trying to make him into someone he was not. Sure, he could probably excel at his theoretical schoolwork as well, but he simply didn't want to. He'd rather learn new Jutsus or work on his Taijutsu. But his parents seemed adamant about this. They kept telling him that it wasn't right for the Hokage's son and the son of the Uzumaki head to be _only_ in the middle of the class, and that they were disappointed. But even though they knew that Naruto was bad at Theory, they had not helped him with his school work. Minato for one was busy with his Hokage duties, and Kushina had started her duties as a Shinobi again two years ago. So she was mostly out training or on missions. And Naruto was mostly out the whole day as well. Naruto had also kept his word to Itachi, and was now desperately trying to prove that his parents wouldn't think of him as a shame of the family, even if he wasn't on top of the school.

He did so by, for once, not taking the Theory too seriously, something that was quite easy, since he really didn't want to put too much effort into it. And in the last three years, he had started to pull off his pranks again. Something he had always loved. And to Naruto's dismay, Minato, as well as Kushina, who both used to find his pranks quite funny, as long as they didn't hurt anyone, had been angry at him.

Now, after three years of this treatment, he had started to get annoyed. He didn't like how his parents wanted him to be different than how he was. Their treatment was the main reason why Naruto still hadn't told them about his involvement in the Kyuubi's disappearance. Something he had actually planed on telling them, once things had calmed down. But Itachi was still the only one to know about that.

Naruto then entered the house. It was shortly before ten. His mother was on a mission since yesterday, and Kei was being looked after by Hiruzen. Normally people wouldn't dare to ask the man that was once called the god of the Shinobi to babysit their child. But Kushina had no such qualms. And Hiruzen seemed not to care about that either. He usually let his 2 year old grandson play with Kei.

Naruto first went into the Kitchen and put down a bowl with Daiki's food. He then went up to the bathroom, took a quick shower and put on some clean cloth. He went down again, and quickly made his way towards school. Daiki right on his toes. While Daiki was no Ninken, according to Tsume, Naruto still took him with him pretty much wherever he went. He had been his guardian angel for the past 3 years, and had somehow saved him from a few tight spots, by leading him away from a mob, or by getting Tsunade.

Naruto and Daiki arrived at the academy right on time. Itachi was already there, as was Hana. He sat down in his spot between Itachi and Hana, and Daiki laid down at his feet. Midori looked annoyed at Naruto, who already looked forward to the end of class.

XXX

After the Academy, Naruto and Itachi had gone back to their clearing, and trained for a few more hours. Naruto was currently sitting on the ground with eyes closed. He was working on his sensing ability. An ability he had found out he had about one year ago, while meditating. Even though he had been meditating for a long time that had never happened. But that day he had suddenly picked up on presences around him, and didn't notice that those people were actually miles away from him. He had been scared really badly, and only realised that those people weren't actually around him, when Itachi had told him so. Since then, he had trained that ability every day. Naruto was now able to pin point certain persons from across half the village. Something that had been very handy in evading Shin and Masao.

Naruto slowly tilted his head towards the side. _"That's weird."_ Naruto thought and extended his senses towards the outskirts of the village, where he felt something strange taking place. He had been training his sensory abilities for only a year, so he certainly wasn't proficient in his sensing, but he recognised that chakra signature that was moving in a fast motion towards the walls of Konoha. A speed that was not possible for that person to have. Naruto got up from his position and furrowed his brows. Something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked from his spot next to him. He looked confused at his friend.

"Come. There's something we need to check out." Naruto said and took off at high speed. He felt Itachi closely behind him. _"We need to intercept."_ Naruto thought and started to change course slightly, so that they would be able to catch up.

"Mind telling me what's got you so jumpy?"

Naruto turned his head slightly towards Itachi, who was now running beside him. "I think someone's kidnapped Hinata Hyuuga." Naruto said and accelerated.

"What makes you think that?" Itachi asked but accelerated his speed as well.

"I feel her chakra. But there's no way she's that fast. And only someone with bad intentions would hide his presence." Naruto stated. "Contact in 30 seconds."

"Shouldn't we contact the higher ups?" Itachi asked but didn't stop, and even readied his Kunai.

"Taken care of. Trust me." Naruto said, and took out his Kunai as well. "Stay hidden, I don't know how many there are. Maybe it's just one, but it would be good to have someone in the shadows, for back up." Naruto said to his friend. Itachi nodded and fell slightly back and changed course so that he would be behind whoever had kidnapped Hinata.

While Itachi wasn't really keen on letting Naruto fight off the enemy, or the enemies alone, he also knew that it was the best course of action. He knew Naruto well enough to understand his hidden message. _Secure Hinata._ Between the two, Naruto was the stronger fighter. Itachi knew that, and while feeling slightly bitter about it, also saw it as a mean to improve himself. Itachi meanwhile was the smarter of the two, coming up with the best strategies. That didn't mean that Naruto wasn't a good strategist. Itachi was simply a better one. Naruto was mostly unpredictable. Another reason why their current result for sparring matches was: 6 losses, 3 wins and 13 draws for Itachi. The draws mostly being because there fights took too long, and they had to stop.

Naruto meanwhile continued on his track and didn't stop until he was in front of two Shinobi. They both wore black pants and a black sweater, covered by a white chest guard. One had short brown, and the other mid-long black hair. They both had a Head band with a cloud on it. And the black haired one was carrying the 5 year old Hinata.

"What are two Kumo Shinobi doing with the heir of the Hyuuga clan?" Naruto asked, though he already knew the answer. It was no secret that Kumo had wanted to have a Byakugan for years.

The two Kumo Shinobi stopped in their tracks and starred at Naruto. "You're Namikaze's brat! What the heck?" The brown haired man said and frowned.

"Shit! You're sure it's the Hokage's brat? Could be a Yamanaka." The other Kumo-nin said.

"Idiot. Take a look at him! Damn. That wasn't planned."

Naruto looked at the interchange while getting in position to fight. "I'm sorry, but whatever you planned to do, I'll stop it. You won't get anywhere." Naruto said with a confidence he definitely didn't feel. Sure, he had fought Itachi. But those Shinobi were definitely Chunin, maybe even Jonin. No way could he win in a fair fight.

"Ha. Right! What does a brat like you want to do against us, hm? Throw stones at us?" The black haired said and laughed.

"Sorry kid, but you'll have to die now. We can't have anyone know about this." The brown haired Kumo-nin said and jumped at Naruto, Kunai in hand.

Naruto blocked the Kunai with his own, and felt the force of the man. _"Shit."_ Naruto, being half as tall as the man, past underneath the man's legs and slashed at him from behind, but it was blocked easily by the Kumo-nin who had turned around.

"Come on Tarou! End him." The black haired man shouted.

"Shut it, Houki." Tarou said calmly.

Tarou sent a punch at Naruto's face, that he was able to dodge by evading to the side. Naruto put some distance between him and Tarou and went through a set of hand seals. "Doton: Earth spikes!" Naruto shouted. He then threw a barrage of Shuriken at the Tarou, some with a tag attached to them. Tarou evaded the spikes by jumping into the air. The same way as Itachi had evaded them in the morning. He then saw the Shuriken, as well as the tags attached to them. He did some hand seals, and then the Kunai hit him. Tarou then disappeared in a poof of smoke, and in Tarou's place was now a log. Naruto felt Tarou's chakra from behind him. He turned around just in time to block a slash of him once again. Naruto slowly slid backwards from the force.

"A Shinobi at such a young age? Not bad, I'll give you that. But that doesn't mean you can keep up with me, a Jonin." Tarou said and kicked Naruto in the gut. Naruto went flying and hit a tree. He coughed up some blood and saw Tarou coming towards him again. Naruto then started to cut something into his right palm, and slowly channelled chakra through it. Tarou meanwhile arrived in front of Naruto and crouched down. "Really unlucky boy. If you would have just stayed away, you would be able to live now." Tarou said with mock sadness and took out his Kunai again. He was about to stab Naruto, when he felt something on his chest.

Naruto's hand was put right on his heart. Tarou looked at Naruto, and noticed with shock that the boy was smirking. "Activate" Tarou's eyes widened and he moved to the side. A great burst of Power came out of Naruto's hand. Tarou couldn't tell what it was, but it most certainly would have been his death had he been any less experienced. Tarou wasn't fast enough to evade the whole attack, and was now sporting a rather big laceration on his left shoulder.

Tarou turned around to say something to Houki, just in the moment where that one fell to the ground. Itachi quickly moved in front of Houki and caught Hinata. Apparently, the Kumo-nin had not been paying attention to his surroundings, and had thus not noticed Itachi move in from behind him to knock him out. A beginner's mistake.

Tarou cursed. He had paid the price for underestimating the kid, and now Houki had been knocked out. Things were not going as planned at all. He knew that right now, there were probably already Konoha Shinobi on their way here, and he wouldn't be able to escape with Houki _and_ the Byakugan. _"The Blond kid seems to be unable to move, and the injuries will kill him soon enough."_ He thought. _"I'll at least get the Byakugan. Sorry, Houki"_ He thought and ran at Itachi. He didn't underestimate him, like he had done with Naruto, and Itachi was barely able to dodge the slash. He was desperately trying to keep Hinata from any harm. Tarou attacked again and again. Itachi was unable to block all of the slashes and thus got a few cuts on his arms and in his face. But nothing lethal. Tarou then moved behind Itachi.

Naruto, from his position on the base of the tree saw that Itachi wouldn't be able to doge the attack while protecting Hinata, and with a burst of power he couldn't explain, he moved. Ignoring the pain that shot through his body. He moved faster than ever and arrived behind Tarou. Without a second of hesitation, Naruto cut Tarou's throat, and he fell to the ground. Dead.

XXX

Minato was looking over the document from Kumo. Two days ago, two Kumo shinobi, a Chunin and a Jonin, had arrived in the village. Kumo wanted and alliance, but Minato had the strange feeling that something was off. He had been thinking about it for hours, and was more than happy when he was interrupted by Hiruzen, who was carrying a sleeping Kei on his arm.

"Good evening, Minato." Hiruzen said with a kind smile.

"Good evening, Hiruzen. Has Kei been good?" Minato asked and took the boy from Hiruzen. He looked down at the boy with a loving smile on his face.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Oh yeah, he had great fun playing with Konohamaru. Apparently, he thinks he is somehow my grandson's older brother. It's really cute."

"That's good. Thanks for watching him again."

"I told you, you don't need to thank me for it. Both Naruto and Kei are like grandsons to me. I really enjoy spending time with them." He said with a smile.

Minato just answered with a smile of his own. Then, suddenly, they heard a noise from the door that seemed like scratching on the door. Minato and Hiruzen furrowed their brows. They then heard the voice of Kana, Minato's secretary. "Stop that. Stupid dog. Stop."

Minato then got up and walked over to the door to open it, and Daiki rushed in. Barking and jumping around.

"I'm so sorry Hokage-sama. I don't know how he came in." Kana apologized with a bow.

"Don't worry. This is my son's dog. I'll take care of it." Minato said and dismissed Kana, who left with a bow.

Minato sighed. "Alright Daiki, where is Naruto?" Minato asked the dog. Daiki just kept barking and ran towards the door. Putting his front paws on it and looking at Minato. He then barked. Minato sighed again. "Where the heck is Naruto? He should be watching his dog." Minato said and massaged his temples. Daiki was now running back to Minato and started to pull on his coat. "Stop that Daiki!" Minato said angrily.

"I think he's trying to tell you something." Hiruzen said and watched the dog with a tilted head. Daiki let go of Minato's coat and ran towards Hiruzen. He then made a noise that sounded like a pleading, and pulled on his Kimono like he had done with Minato's coat. "I think we should follow him, something might have happened to Naruto." Hiruzen stated with worry.

Minato contemplated for a second. It seemed stupid to Minato to follow Daiki, who was no Ninja-dog, but at the same time, if something really happened, he would forever regret to ignore it now. So he nodded. "Kana!" He shouted out.

Kana arrived in the doorframe again. "Hai, Hokage-sama?"

Minato walked over to her and put Kei in her arms. "I need to head out for a bit. Please watch him 'til I'm back." Minato said, but didn't wait for an answer. "Alright Daiki. This better be worth my time." Minato stated. Daiki started to run right away, Minato and Hiruzen on his tail. Daiki led them through the village, and into the forest. While Daiki stayed on the ground, Minato and Hiruzen took to the trees. Suddenly, Minato felt a presence approach from the right.

"Minato! Sandaime-sama!" Said a man that was without a doubt a Hyuuga. Next to him was a man that looked exactly like him, with an activated Byakugan.

"Hiashi! And Hizashi as well. What are you doing here?"

"Hinata has been kidnapped. We're following their trail." Hiashi answered. Minato could only tell it was Hiashi because he had known him since his childhood.

At this Minato tensed. Had Naruto somehow been involved in this? _"Please be alright, Naruto."_ Hiruzen had same thoughts running through his head.

"But what about you?" Hiashi asked.

"We're looking for Naruto. His Dog came to get us." Minato said and pointed to the dog that was running at full speed on the ground.

"Brother! I can see them. Right ahead!" Hizashi stated.

Hiashi then activated his Byakugan as well, and took in a breath. "Minato. Naruto's there too. As well as someone else, but I don't recognise the Chakra. Must be someone his age."

At this, Minato, Hiruzen and the two Hyuugas sped up, passing over Daiki. After another minute or so, they arrived at the scene, just in time to see Naruto slice one of the Shinobi's throat, who then fell to the ground. A second later, Naruto collapsed as well. He was caught by Itachi before he hit the ground.

"Naruto!" Minato shouted out in worry and dashed forward. He took Naruto from Itachi, and looked him over. He seemed to have quite a few broken bones and he had a laceration on his head. He couldn't tell if he had any internal wounds.

Hiashi had moved just a second after Minato, and was now taking his daughter from Itachi. He let go of a breath when he saw that she was unhurt. He then looked at Itachi. "Thank you, for saving my daughter."

Itachi shook his head. "It wasn't me, Hiashi-sama, but Naruto. He was the one that noticed them, and he was the one who distracted them so that I could get your daughter." He said and looked at Naruto.

Minato got up, Naruto in his arms. "Hiruzen, I'm going to bring those two to Tsunade. Can you take care of those Kumo-nin? And Daiki should arrive any second. Hiashi, Hizashi, come to my office in an hour." Minato said and walked over to Itachi and put his Hand on his shoulder. Hiruzen nodded and looked at the dead body that laid at Minato's feet. Hiashi and Hiashi bowed and Minato disappeared in a yellow flash.

XXX

 **Alright Guys. That's it again. Hope you liked it. See you soon. Your PurpleShadow95 ^^**

 **P.S. I just noticed, but I posted the first chapter on October 10th, Naruto's birthday. Totally wasn't doing it on purpose. Lol**


	8. Chapter 8: First Kill

**Hey guys, I'm back again.**

 **Thanks for the Reviews and for following my Story ^^**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 8: First Kill

Minato arrived in the hospital and walked passed the reception towards Tsunade's office. Itachi close on his tail.

"Hokage-sama, if you are looking for Tsunade-sama, she has left few minutes before to see you in your office." Said the woman at the reception.

Minato cursed. He turned around, gave a slight nod of his head as a thank you, and once again grabbed Itachi's shoulder. This time teleporting into his office.

Arriving in his office, Minato put Naruto down on the couch. "I'll be right back." He said to Itachi, who simply nodded.

Minato walked out of the office and towards Kana. She was still holding onto Kei and was currently talking to Tsunade.

"Tsunade! Naruto and Itachi are hurt. They're in my office." Minato said while still walking towards them. Tsunade's eyes widened and she ran past Minato into the office. Minato wanted to follow her right away, but he had to take care of something first.

Kana seemed to be in shock. "Hokage-sama, what happened to Itachi-kun and Naruto-sama?" She asked.

Minato only shook his head. "Kana. I need you to contact Fugaku Uchiha. Tell him his son got hurt and he is to come to my office. And when Hyuuga Hiashi and Hizashi come, you're to let them into my office as well. We have an appointment."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"And please watch Kei a bit longer for me will you?" This time it was a question, and no order.

Kana smiled at her Hokage. "Of course, Hokage-sama. Please go back to Naruto-sama's side."

Minato smiled at her too, and then nodded. He turned around and walked back into his office. Itachi was standing next to Naruto and Tsunade. Tsunade was currently healing Naruto's wounds. "How is he?" Minato asked. The worry present in his voice.

Tsunade turned to look at him for a second and then looked back to Naruto. She had first thought that they had been hurt by civilians, but Itachi had hastily told her otherwise. Though she still didn't know what had happened. "He'll be fine. There was some internal damage, but you brought him to me fast enough. The laceration is quite big, but it's no problem to take care of. And I'm taking care of the broken bones. It's impressive. He heals up really fast, even faster than Kushina." Tsunade said. She had wondered why Naruto healed so fast, but put it off as him being an Uzumaki. And there were people that did heal faster than others.

Minato let go of a breath, and Itachi relaxed as well. "Good. He probably gets that from Kushina. Come on, Itachi-kun, you sit down as well." Minato said to the young Uchiha and gave him a chair that Itachi gladly accepted. While he wasn't physically exhausted, he was mentally. This was the first time he had been in such a pinch. He had been really scared, something he wouldn't actually admit, except maybe to Naruto. The moment Tarou had appeared behind him, Itachi had been sure to die. He could have blocked the attack, but Hinata would have been hurt, or maybe even killed in the process. Something he wouldn't have allowed. And then Naruto had killed Tarou. And adding to that, Naruto had been hurt pretty badly in the process. And now that he knew that Naruto was going to be alright, he allowed himself to relax. At least a bit.

She continued her healing for another 20 minutes and then let go of a sigh. "Alright. Itachi, your turn." Tsunade said and started to treat Itachi's wound, who weren't nearly as bad as Naruto's, but there nevertheless.

Naruto started to stir, and then he opened his eyes and sat up. "Itachi!" Naruto turned around to look at Itachi. He let go of a breath. "Thank god you're okay." He said and went with a shaking hand through his hair. "Is Hinata-chan alright too?" Naruto asked, but he was pretty sure she was okay. After all, his father had arrived moments before Naruto had lost consciousness.

Itachi smiled. _"Always worrying about others."_ He thought. "She's fine. Her father took her with him."

Naruto let go of another breath and fell down on his back again. Wincing slightly. "Good." Naruto said and seemed like he would fall asleep again any second.

Minato looked at his son with a small smile on his face. He was about to ask something, when the door was opened, and Fugaku came in. Followed closely by Mikoto. Mikoto walked over to Itachi right away and took him in a tight embrace. "Itachi! Are you ok?" She asked in worry. Fugaku stopped a few steps behind her, and nodded to Minato.

"I'm fine Kaa-san. Nothing to worry about."

"And what exactly happened here, Hokage-sama?" Fugaku asked and his look moved over to Naruto, who was still laying on the couch. Just like Hiashi, Fugaku would normally call Minato by his name, and not by his title. But when they were on official business, he was the Hokage.

"We shall wait for the rest to be here. What I can tell you though, is that Naruto and Itachi have fought two Kumo-shinobi. I do not know how it came to that though." Minato said.

Fugaku only raised his eyebrows. Mikoto took in a deep breath, and Tsunade seemed simply shocked.

In that moment, Hiashi, Hizashi, Hiruzen and Daiki came into the room. Daiki quickly ran over to Naruto and jumped onto the couch. Curling into a ball at Naruto's feet. Naruto smiled once he felt Daiki at his feet, and reached down to stroke his fur. Hiruzen looked happy at seeing Naruto being alright again, and Hiashi and Hizashi looked at the young blond with curious eyes.

"Alright. Now that everyone is here, let's start. Hiashi, would you mind beginning?" Minato said towards his old friend.

Hiashi nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama. Earlier tonight, two Kumo-shinobi have managed to invade our compound. They seemed to know our patrol duty, and killed three of our branch members. They then took my daughter, Hinata, from her bedroom, and left with her. I'm truly sorry Hokage-sama. We were careless." Hiashi stated. The fact that two enemy shinobi had been able to enter his home was not fitting well with him. "After noticing her disappearance, I and Hizashi went after them. We were quickly able to find their trail, and soon after met up with you and Sandaime-sama."

Minato nodded. "Thank you." Minato then turned towards his son and Itachi. "Itachi-kun, would you mind?" Minato asked.

Itachi nodded. "Hai. Hokage-sama. Naruto and I were training, and Naruto was working on his sensory abilities, when he-"

"Sensory abilities? Since when does he have sensory abilities?" Minato interrupted.

"Since about a year or so." Naruto answered.

"Why didn't you-"Minato started, but was interrupted as well, but by Hiruzen.

"I think those questions can wait, Minato. Don't you think?"

"Ahh… Right. I'm sorry. Please go on, Itachi-kun."

Itachi nodded again. "Naruto had noticed something strange happening on the outskirts of Konoha. Apparently he recognised Hinata-san's chakra, but it was moving too fast to actually be her moving." Itachi said and looked at Naruto. "Naruto said that there must have been someone hiding their presence, since a Konoha Shinobi wouldn't need to do that. So we went to see what was going on."

"But why didn't you come to contact me or any other Shinobi? Going there was really reckless!" Minato scolded.

"But we did." Naruto stated from his laying position.

"What?" Minato asked and turned towards Naruto.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at his father. "We did send someone. Daiki came to get you." Naruto said and stroked Daiki's fur again.

Itachi looked surprised at that. "So that's who you meant? Smart." Itachi said and walked over to stroke Daiki as well.

"You didn't know?" Minato asked Itachi.

Itachi turned towards Minato. "No Hokage-sama. Naruto simply said that he had taken care of notifying the higher ups."

"When we left, I was sure Daiki would pick up on it. He's damn smart. I didn't know he would get you though." Naruto said.

Minato sighed. He didn't know if that was smart or completely stupid. But that didn't matter right now. "What happened then?"

"We made sure to intercept them, Naruto was to distract them, and I was to get Hinata-san back. Something that worked quite well." Itachi stated.

"I was lucky. That guy didn't think I could do anything at all. And didn't go all out. And he still beat me to a pulp." Naruto said and looked at the ceiling.

"Doesn't matter." Itachi said.

"What about the scene we came upon?" Hiruzen asked calmly and looked at Naruto, who stiffened at the thought. He hadn't forgotten. He hadn't forgotten that he had killed a man tonight. But he didn't want to think about it right now.

Itachi seemed to understand that and so he took the word once again. "After I was able to knock out the Shinobi that held Hinata-san, the shinobi that Naruto was fighting attacked me. I was able to dodge a few attacks, but was soon overpowered. He was about to kill me, when Naruto… stopped him. He probably wasn't expecting Naruto to be able to move at all." Itachi said. He had made sure not to say _killed_ , but he knew that all in the room got it.

"I see." Minato said and looked in sympathy at his oldest son. He just had his first kill. "You were both really reckless tonight. But you did well. Both of you." Minato said and looked at both boys one at a time.

Itachi nodded in thanks, while Naruto just shut his eyes close. _"I killed a man. And I did well?"_

Mikoto looked like she was about to cry, and Fugaku looked proud. Mikoto walked over to Naruto and hugged him. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear. She then got up again and looked at Fugaku, who nodded. "If that is all, we shall take our leave, Hokage-sama." Fugaku half asked, half stated. Minato nodded. "That will be all. If any more questions turn up, I can still ask Naruto here." Minato said. "Have a good night."

The three Uchiha's bowed. "You too, Hokage-sama." They said.

"See you, Naruto." Itachi said to his friend. Naruto just waved his hand.

After the Uchiha's had left, Hiashi came forward. "Naruto-san. I would like to give you my thanks. You saved my daughter tonight." He said with a bow.

Naruto was surprised, but answered nevertheless. "It was something anyone would have done. We were lucky we didn't make it worse." Naruto stated.

Hiashi got up again, and looked at Minato. "If that is all, we would take our leave as well, Hokage-sama."

Minato just nodded, and Hiashi and Hizashi left the room.

Minato then sighed. "Hiruzen, Tsunade, the two of you can leave as well. I thank you for your help." Minato said.

Hiruzen had a small smile on his face. "If you say so, Minato. I'll see you in the morning. Naruto-kun, get better soon." Hiruzen said and walked out of the room. Only Tsunade, Naruto and Minato were left. And of course Daiki.

"While I'd love to leave, you know that there was a reason I came here right?" Tsunade asked.

Minato looked shocked. He had forgotten about that. "Right. I'm sorry, but can that wait to tomorrow?" Minato asked almost pleadingly.

Tsunade sighed. "Well, a day won't be the end of the world." Tsunade said and turned towards Naruto. "Naruto. I'll give you a sedative, so that you can sleep the night through okay?" Tsunade asked the blond boy, who only nodded. A bit help to sleep would be nice, he didn't think he could fall asleep tonight without it anyway.

Tsunade smiled at him, and gave him an injection. She had taken the syringe out of her back pouch. She watched as Naruto slowly fell asleep. She then got up. "He'll sleep tight for the night, but I'm sure you know that you'll have to talk to him about his first kill. Right?"

"I know. I will. Good night, Tsunade. And thanks." Minato said. "Can you please send Kana in on your way out?"

Tsunade nodded and excused herself. A few moments later, Kana came back in again with Kei on her arm. "You called?" Kana asked and her gaze turned to the sleeping Naruto on the couch.

"Yes, thanks a lot for your work today. And for watching my son. You're free to go home now." Minato said.

"Ah. Hai. Thank you, Hokage-sama." She said and walked over to him to give him the sleeping Kei. "Will he be alright?" She asked looking at Naruto.

Minato followed her gaze, and smiled softly. "He'll be fine."

"That's good. Good night, Hokage-sama." Kana said and walked towards the door.

"Good night, Kana." Minato said as well, and walked over to the couch. He then put Kei down next to Naruto, and grabbed a blanket from one of his drawers. He covered his sons and went back to work.

XXX

A few hours after the incident with the Kumo-nin, Minato was still sitting on his desk. He had to take care of Kumo right away. The Shinobi that was still alive was now in T & I (Torture and Interrogation) so he would probably hear of him in the morning, but there was still the fact that they came formerly for an alliance. And this incident would make this very difficult. Having an alliance would be perfect, but he also knew that if the Raikage had ordered the attack, they would be no alliance. He could just hope that hoses Shinobi acted on their own will. But he doubted it.

The Window was opened and he was joined by a person he had known for years and that instantly raised his mood. "Jiraiya-sensei! Good to see you." Minato said with a big grin and looked at the man in front of him.

Jiraiya was slightly bigger than Minato. He had long white hair that he had in a ponytail tied on his back, with bangs framing his face. He wore a short green Kimono with matching pants, and mesh armour underneath. He also wore a red haori over the kimono and wooden sandals. He wore a Head band with the Kanji for 'oil' on it, and had red lines going down from his black eyes. He smiled down at his apprentice. "Yo Minato. Long day?"

Minato sighed. "Could say that…" He looked towards his two sons on the couch.

Jiraiya followed his gaze. "What are the brats doing here?" He asked with confusion.

Minato just gave a wave of his hand. "Nothing to worry about. What brings you here?"

"What!? Not happy to see me? I'm hurt." Jiraiya said with mock sadness. Minato just answered with a smile. "Alright. Jokes aside. I got some information." Jiraiya said his voice turning serious.

Minato turned serious as well. "What is it?"

Jiraiya turned to look at Naruto and Kei. Naruto was fixing the wall, and Kei seemed to be cuddled in his chest. Daiki just laid on Naruto's feet. Deep asleep as well.

Minato, who understood what is Sensei was worried about just shook his head. "Don't worry. Kei doesn't wake up unless you use certain tricks, and Naruto is sedated. He'll sleep through."

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows at hearing that Naruto was sedated, but Minato just waved his question off. "I'll tell you later. First, your information."

Jiraiya nodded. "You remember what I told you about Orochimaru entering some kind of Organisation?"

Minato nodded as well. "The Akatsuki."

"Correct, I've been following them around a bit. Something really difficult by the way. They're all high ranking Shinobi." Jiraiya said with a frown. "Anyway, I found out what they are after."

Minato seemed to lean in over his desk. "You found out? How? No wait. That's not important. What are they after?"

Jiraiya sighed and looked to the ground. "It was more luck than anything about finding out. But I'll tell you some other day." Jiraiya now looked Minato in the eyes again. "There are after the Jinjurikis." He stated seriously.

Minato seemed to be in thought at that. "But we don't have a Jinjuriki. We still don't know where the Kyuubi went." Minato said, the bitterness and the annoyance at not knowing what happened to the strongest of the tailed beast, was clearly in his voice.

Jiraiya sighed. "I know. I haven't got a lead on that either. Sorry. The only thing I know is that the Akatsuki don't have it either, though they do think that it is in Konoha, somehow." Jiraiya said and looked at Minato again. "Actually, I think it's almost a good thing we don't know where it is. As long as there is no information of the Kyuubi being here, Akatsuki will leave us alone. Probably." Jiraiya said with a shrug of his shoulder.

Minato leaned back in his chair. "Yes, maybe… Let's see how it develops. Keep an eye on them will you?" Minato said with eyes closed.

Jiraiya nodded. "Now, tell me about Naruto needing a sedative." Jiraiya said and finally sat down in front of his student.

Minato nodded and started to tell him how the evening went. None of the two man noticed that Naruto's blue eyes, filled with shock, had been staring at the back of the couch for some time, completely awake.

XXX

Naruto hadn't been able to sleep anymore after he had woken up few hours after being injected the sedative. He didn't know why it didn't work for the whole night, but he thought it was most likely because of the Kyuubi. If his healing ability was higher, maybe he just worked through the sedative faster as well.

Minato had brought Naruto, Kei and Daiki back to their house after Jiraiya had left, which was around midnight. Naruto had made sure to keep his eyes closed, and to pretend to be asleep. He didn't want his father to know that he had been awake. It would only have led to unwanted questions. Minato didn't seem to notice that Naruto had woken up, and had put him in his bed at home.

So Naruto laid for the whole night staring at the ceiling thinking. Daiki sleeping on the end of his bed. He had thought about his fight with the Jonin, his first kill, and Minato's discussion with Jiraiya about that group called Akatsuki. Somehow, Naruto had started to push the thought of his kill to the back of his mind and concentrated on what Jiraiya had said. Because Kushina had been the previous container of the Kyuubi, Naruto knew what a Jinjuriki was. That he was the Jinjuriki. Those people were after him. Jiraiya had said that they were high ranking shinobi. But how strong were they? Probably Jonin. B-Rank? A-Rank? Or even S-Rank? Probably not right? But what if they were? How was he supposed to fight them? Those kind of thoughts were running through his mind 'til the sun shone through his window.

He turned to look at the time. It was 6 o'clock. Later than usual, but he simply hadn't wanted to get up earlier. Naruto slowly got up, and went out of his room and downstairs, followed by his loyal companion. Minato had already left for the office, and Kei would come down any second. Naruto walked into the kitchen. He put down some food for Daiki and stroke him over his fur. He then took out two bowls and the pack of cereals, and put them on the table. He went to get the milk in the fridge. On the fridge was a note from Minato: _Morning Naruto, sorry I had to leave for the office. Come over once you brought Kei to Hiruzen, we should talk about yesterday._ Naruto sighed. _"Need to talk about the kill then…"_ Naruto thought. Naruto brought the Milk to the table and, as he had expected, Kei came walking down the stairs. "Morning Kei." Naruto said and smiled at his little brother.

"Morning Nii-chan." Kei said and walked over to the table.

Both sat down and started to eat. "You already nervous about the Academy?" Naruto asked Kei. He was supposed to enter the Academy next week, and was very excited about it.

Kei looked u from his cereals and smiled brightly. "Not at all! Sasuke and I both really look forward to it. By the way, can you help me with my Kunai throwing? Dad showed me the basics, but I'm still not so good…"

Kei had started training a few month before. Unlike Naruto and Itachi, who had mostly trained on their own, Kei had been training at home, with the help of Kushina when she was here. Or Naruto had helped him sometimes. Naruto and Itachi had been training on their own since they were 4, but Kushina and Minato had decided that they didn't want Kei to train as much on his own as Naruto, and had made sure that Kei would stay around the house 'til he at least entered the Academy.

"Sure, when are you meeting with Jiji today?" Naruto asked as he finished his bowl.

"At 9 o'clock. We'll go to the park with Konohamaru today." Kei said excitedly. He really loved to spend time with little Konohamaru. Which was the main reason why he still went over to Hiruzen's place when Kushina wasn't home. He actually didn't need someone to look after him anymore. Well, not really.

"Good. I got to go see Tou-san after that." Naruto said and grabbed Kei's finished bowl and brought them into the Kitchen. "Go get ready then." He said over his shoulder.

XXX

Naruto was walking down the street, Daiki at his side and Kei on the dog's back. They had been training an hour, and Kei had visibly improved. He wasn't as far as Naruto was at that age, but still farther than other kids his age. Certainly already ahead of the other kids that would start the Academy with him. They walked past the Hokage Tower, and towards a little house a few blocks from the tower. Hiruzen's house.

Kei jumped down from Daiki's back. "I'll be going then, Nii-chan." Kei said and run towards the house.

"See you later." Naruto said to himself, as Kei had already disappeared in the house. He shook his head and let a small smile grace his lips. _"Why have me bring him here when I never even make it to the house?"_ He thought and turned on his heels. Towards the Hokage tower.

Once he reached the tower, he went up the stairs and walked up towards Kana. "Morning, Kana-san. Is my Father free?" Naruto asked the woman.

"Oh, Naruto-sama. Yes he is free right now." She said with a smile. "Are you feeling better?"

"I'm good. And Kana-san, I told you to stop calling me Naruto-sama. Naruto is fine. After all, I didn't do anything that deserved such a title." He said with a small smile. Naruto had always disliked people calling him Naruto- _sama_ , but he had started to really hate it in the past years. It made him feel like they only saw Minato's son. Not him.

"But you are the Hokage's son. I can't call you in an informal way." She answered. Proving Naruto's suspicion like so many had before as well.

Naruto let go of another sigh. _"No use, hmm."_ He thought and turned towards Minato's office. "See you, Kana-san." He said over his shoulder and entered the office without knocking. "Morning, Tou-san." Naruto said to his father, who was reading a scroll.

Minato looked up. "Morning Naruto. How are you feeling?" Minato asked and put the scroll to the side.

"Fine." Naruto answered and sat down on the chair in front of Minato's desk. Daiki sat down next to him and put his head on Naruto's knee.

Minato studied Naruto for a few seconds. "Really… Naruto. What you went through yesterday must have been a bit much for you. There's no need to hide it." Minato said with a comforting smile.

Naruto kept quiet for a few seconds an bit his lip. "It's just... I kinda don't feel anything right now." Naruto said. It was the truth. He had put the kill to a far corner of his mind, and hadn't thought about it since then. The fact that he had killed someone probably hadn't sunken in quite yet. "What happened to the other Kumo-nin?" Naruto asked, trying to change the subject.

"He is still being interrogated." Minato answered. "But don't change the subject. You had your first kill. I just want you to know, that what you did was the right thing, even if it doesn't seem like it. You protected a fellow citizen." Minato smiled. "I'm proud of you."

Naruto didn't answer. He looked down and started to stroke Daiki's head. "Thanks. I really am fine though." Naruto said and looked up to his father. "My injuries are all healed up too." Naruto said with a small smile.

Minato frowned. _"That was almost a bit too fast…"_ He thought. But then he shook his head. _"The injuries weren't as bad as I thought they were then. Well, that's good too."_ He then smiled at Naruto. "That's good. If you need to talk about it in the future, just come to me."

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

"And something else… Sensory Abilities? Why did you never told us you had them?" Minato asked with raised eyebrows.

"Ah…" Naruto said and put his hand behind his head. "I guess I just forgot…" He said. _"It's not like you ever asked about my training anyway…"_

"Really. Well, being a sensor is really great." Minato said with pride in his voice.

"I guess…"

"But Naruto, please don't do something like that again. Both you and Itachi-kun were really lucky yesterday. Those Kumo-nin could have killed you." Minato said sternly but then added in a softer voice. "Nevertheless, you managed to hold your own, even though he was greatly underestimating you."

Naruto nodded. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, you're dismissed."

Naruto then go up from his seat. "I'll be going then." Naruto said and walked towards the door.

"Alright. See you tonight. Try not to be late for the academy." Minato said and took the scroll he had put to the side before in his hands again. "And Naruto." Minato added, which made Naruto turn around to look at his father once again. A questioning look on his face. "Next time, don't forget to knock. It's common curtesy."

"Hai. See you tonight." Naruto said and walked out of the door. _"I never knock."_ Naruto thought and put his hands in his jacket pocket, walking towards the exit, and raising his hand to Kana when passing her. He wouldn't go to the academy today. He needed to think now. And there was only two places where he could freely think. Akemi's grave, and the Hokage Monument. Today, he went for the second choice. So he and Daiki started to walk towards the stone faces.

XXX

The village was very lively, the way you would expect it to be in the middle of the day. From his spot on the first Hokage's stone face, Naruto was overlooking everything. Daiki lying next to him. Naruto looked up to the sky. For the first time since the evening before, Naruto thought of the man he killed. The way his Kunai had so easily cut through the man's throat. How easily he had taken a life. Did he have a wife? A child? Probably. And he had killed her husband, and the child's father. Just like that. Naruto knew that the Kumo-Nin would have killed him without hesitation, but that didn't make it any easier. The tears slowly started flowing out of Naruto's eyes. The silent tears turned into a light sob, and then he just let it go. He put his head on his knees and cried. He was there for a few hours, and just cried.

The sun was already setting when Naruto finally stopped. He looked over the village that had now turned quieter. The people were slowly making their way home. The children were playing a last round of tag, and the shops closed one after the other. Naruto got up from his sitting position and took a deep breath. He then turned around and prepared to leave, when he heard Daiki bark from behind him. He turned around and looked at his partner.

"What's the matter?" He asked the dog. Daiki then tried to dig into the stone head. Naruto chuckled. "That's not going to work buddy. That's a stone head. And the front part of the shelters. You won't get through." Naruto said and put his hands on his hips. Daiki just answered with a bark, and continued his digging attempts.

Naruto furrowed his brows. Normally Daiki wouldn't do anything without a reason. Naruto crouched down and put his hand on the ground. He then closed his eyes and let his sensing abilities flow. He was expecting to feel the activated seals that were protecting the shelters. Which he did feel. What he wasn't expecting, was to feel a hollow space inside of the head, but the shelters shouldn't be right beneath him. They were farther inside the mountains. _"What the heck is that?"_ He thought with a frown. He continued his sensing and felt a seal that didn't have any protecting effects. At least not for the shelters. It was situated a few feet to his right.

Naruto got up once again and walked over to that seal. He then crouched down again and looked for the seal. He found it soon enough, covered with a layer of dirt that Naruto got away very easily. Naruto shook his head and turned to Daiki. "Someday I need to know how you do that. Seriously." Daiki just waived his tail and sat down next to Naruto. Urging him to keep going. "Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." Naruto said and took out a Kunai. He then cut his hand, and let blood fall on the seal. This blood seal would only be released to a carrier of the same blood as its creator, or if the person that wanted to enter had the permission of the creator to enter. Naruto assumed that his father was the one to put up that seal, since it was a very complicated seal, and there weren't many seal masters who were good enough to draw that kind of seals. Of course, he couldn't be sure that his father was the one to draw the seal, but Naruto had enough knowledge of seals to know that this one wouldn't hurt him, if Naruto didn't have permission to release it.

There was a glow of the seal, and a hole appeared before him, with stairs leading down. Naruto gulped. His father would be angry if he found this out. Naruto just knew it. But he would be angry at him anyway for skipping classes today. Might as well get the most out of it. So Naruto go up once again and walked down the stairs, Daiki following happily behind him.

XXX

 **Hope you enjoyed it. See you soon. Your PurpleShadow95**


	9. Chapter 9: Secrets

**Hey guys, I'm back again.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 9: Secrets

Naruto was speechless. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting coming down here, but this was not it. Naruto had just entered a stone face. He had not expected to arrive in any sort of liveable room. But this was just that. A very beautiful room. Bright, and somehow able to give off a homely feeling. Very calming for the still guilty feeling Naruto. Naruto took a few steps further into the space. The spiral stairs that had led Naruto and Daiki downstairs were almost in the middle of the circular room. Naruto turned around so that he could take in the whole area. There was a large book shelf that took in almost half of the wall of the room. It held an unimaginable amount of books and scrolls, with 2 sofas and a glass table in front. Apparently, someone enjoyed reading here in peace. Next to the bookshelf, on the wall, hung 2 pictures. Naruto recognised them from the Hokage's office. It was the Shodaime and the Nidaime. The light that shone onto the pictures came from the "windows", that were in fact, The Shodaime's eyes. There was a seal on the eyes that seemed to prevent people to recognise that the eyes were in fact windows. Someone really though this all well through. Naruto couldn't feel any chakra from the outside at all. So there must have been suppressor seals inside as well. In front of the windows was a black piano that was reflecting the light of the setting sun. Naruto was awestruck by the piano. It was the first time seeing one so beautiful. Normally, Naruto would have first checked out the Books and scrolls for some Jutsus. But somehow, the Piano was calling him. He walked over to it and let his fingers slide over the smooth wood.

"It's beautiful. Isn't it?" A familiar voice said from behind him.

Naruto turned around in shock. He had not felt him coming at all. Not that he should have. It was highly unlikely after all that Naruto would be able to sense the Sandaime Hokage approach him. But he had still been scared badly.

"Jiji!" Was all Naruto said to his surrogate grandfather.

Hiruzen chuckled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen said with a kind smile and came closer towards Naruto. He then let his fingers slide over the Piano, like Naruto had done moments before. "I'm surprise you found this place. Not even Minato-kun knowns this place exists." Hiruzen stated and watched Naruto from the corner of his eyes.

Naruto seemed surprised at this. "What? Tou-san wasn't the one to place the seal? Why could I enter then?"

Hiruzen raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know Minato and Kushina had taught you the arts of Fuinjutsu. To be able to figure out something like that from the seal, what level are you currently at?"

"Ah… I kind of picked it up myself…" Naruto said while scratching the back of his head and evading Hiruzen's eyes. "I'm currently level 2…" Naruto said still not looking at Hiruzen. That was a lie. He had reached level 2 even before the Kyuubi attack. He had had to, he wouldn't have been able to draw the seal back then after all if he hadn't. Level one was basics, were one was taught about the different use of seals, and how one could identify the simple ones. Level 2 was the drawing of the easier seals and the understanding of different parts in seals. Naruto remembered the part about blood seals in one of the books on his way to level 2. He was actually level 4 of sealing right now. He had reached that level last week. There were a total of 10 levels one could reach as a seal apprentice. After reaching level 10, there were 5 levels as seal master. He knew that his father and Jiraiya were level 3 seal masters, and Kushina was a level 4 seal master.

"Hmmm…" said Hiruzen. Naruto knew right away that Hiruzen had seen through his lie. But none of them said anything. Naruto didn't even know why he lied to Hiruzen. Probably because it would have led to unwanted questions, but Hiruzen did none of that. Instead, Hiruzen walked over to the bookshelf, passing the sofa, he saw that Daiki had made himself comfortable on one of them. Hiruzen stroked Daiki while passing him, and took out a book from the shelf. He flipped through a few pages and then looked up to Naruto. "This place was made by the Shodaime Hokage. He and his brother, the Nidaime, used to spend their time here relaxing and thinking. They gave me permission to enter as their successor, and I gave that right to Minato. But I haven't shown him this place yet. I simply added his blood to the seal. Thus, you can enter as well." Hiruzen stated.

"Ah. I see. But why doesn't my father know about this place? And why doesn't anyone else for that matter. I mean, did no one notice the Shodaime running off to build this place?" Naruto asked. He really was confused.

Hiruzen smiled. "Shodaime-sama was an excellent Shinobi, and during that time, a lot of things were being built all over the village, so him working on this room went pretty much unnoticed. His brother found this place soon after it was finished though." Hiruzen chuckled. "Shodaime-sama was really annoyed apparently, because he had just finished all the work, when his brother found it. That's what my Sensei told me." He said and smiled at that memory. Naruto could help but try to imagine the first and second Hokage standing in this room, the Shodaime annoyed that he had had to do all the work and his brother finding and using this place without doing a thing for it. He chuckled slightly at that thought. He was brought back by Hiruzen's voice. "And just because until now only Hokages have entered this place, doesn't mean that this place is exclusively for them."

Now Naruto was confused. And that confusion was shown on his face as well.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Have you ever heard of Konoha's Phantom?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

"Phantom? No. Never."

"Well, that's to be expected. You are really young after all." Hiruzen stated. He put the book back into the shelf and lit his pipe. He then took a breath and sat down on the still free Sofa. Naruto moved over to the sofa Daiki laid on. Daiki sat up for Naruto to sit down, and let himself fall onto Naruto's leg again. Naruto and Hiruzen both chuckled at that. "Good dog you have there." Hiruzen said.

Naruto nodded and smiled fondly at his partner and stroked his head. He then looked at Hiruzen again.

Hiruzen coughed a bit. "Right. The Phantom. Konoha's Phantom is someone Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime, created. The first Phantom was my Sensei, Tobirama Senju. The Nidaime Hokage, appointed by his brother. Well, appointed might be the wrong word for this. Shodaime-sama had asked my sensei to take that part, and he was later given the name Konoha's phantom."

"But what was the phantom's job?" Naruto asked.

"You mean, what IS his job. The Phantom still exists." Hiruzen stated. "The Phantom's first appearance was on the funeral of the first Hokage." Hiruzen said and looked at the Piano. "That day, the village was in agony. They… We had lost our first leader, and we were all in a state of depression. That's when the Phantom appeared. Or rather. His message. You could hear it through the whole village. The clear sound, the beautiful melody. It was like it was telling us, that everything would be alright. That we weren't lost. It gave us back our joy. And our will of fire." Hiruzen stated with closed eyes, remembering that day.

Naruto was surprised to hear that. He hadn't expecting the Phantom to be so important. "And who is the Phantom now?" Naruto asked, slightly leaning forward.

Hiruzen smiled kindly upon Naruto. "Well. That would be me." Hiruzen said. "I was the one to play the piano on my sensei's funeral. Well, my clone." Hiruzen added with a chuckle. "Like Hashirama chose his brother to be the Phantom, Tobirama chose me to be the next one."

"I see… But that still doesn't explain why you haven't told my father…" Naruto added in confusion.

Hiruzen smiled lightly and got up from his seat again. He then walked over to the Piano, sat down, and started to play. A beautiful melody, not too fast, yet not to slow. And it gave of a feeling of joy. Naruto unknowingly started to smile at the melody. He closed his eyes and listened. Once Hiruzen was done, Naruto walked over to him, and sat down next to Hiruzen on the bench. He slowly let his fingers run over the keys. Producing a few sounds. But no melody.

"The reason I haven't told your father about this place or about the phantom, is because I haven't chosen him to be the next phantom." Hiruzen stated. "He hasn't found this place, like I have, and before me Tobirama. Like you."

At this, Naruto looked up towards Hiruzen. He smiled gently at the young blond. That's when Naruto understood what Hiruzen meant. "I can't. I don't know a thing about music. And it wasn't me that found this place. It was Daiki." Naruto said and pointed to the Dog that was now lazily laying on the ground next to the two of them.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Well. Daiki really is smart then. But I can't really have a dog be the phantom. And you don't need to know about music. As long as you appreciate it. As long as you can feel its power, understand its message, there is nothing more you need. You can be the next messenger."

Naruto looked shocked. And stared down at the piano again. He then bit his lip. He really wanted to play such a beautiful melody, such a clear sound. He wanted to make it happen. "Alright. I'll do it!" Naruto said with determination.

"Good. Then I shall also give you permission to use the books here as you please, though I'd like you to use them with care nonetheless. They are some that teach you to play the piano too." He said.

Naruto nodded. "Thanks. Jiji." Naruto then showed a confused expression. "But... How come you didn't play at the funeral of the Kyuubi attack? Wasn't that a moment where the village would have needed someone to raise their spirits?"

Hiruzen then had a conflicted expression on his face. "Yes… The Phantom should have appeared then… But… Back then, it had simply slipped my mind. I… I wasn't thinking of the village at that moment."

Naruto understood. Hiruzen had lost his wife back then. He would have needed the Phantom himself. Even though he was once the Hokage, he was still human too. "I understand. It's only natural." Naruto said.

They were silent for a few moments, when Hiruzen took word again. "But you know, I'm really glad I can give off the title of Phantom to someone else." Hiruzen said and smiled at Naruto. He answered with a smile as well. "There's something else I would like to talk to you about though, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked up, curiosity on his face. "Yeah?"

Hiruzen's face turned sad. "I talked to Minato today. He's worried you know. About what happened yesterday." Naruto's face turned sad as well. He evaded Hiruzen's gaze. "I know why you don't want to talk about it, but it would do you good." He said. "I can see that your eyes are still red. And Minato is by no means a fool. He knows that you haven't really dealt with it yet. Or at least this morning." Hiruzen then put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You're not alone on this. He can help you."

Naruto didn't say anything, and Hiruzen sighed. "We should both get going. Minato-kun should soon be heading home too."

Naruto nodded.

Hiruzen and Naruto both got up and, followed by Daiki, walked up the stairs again. "What if people see us coming out? Won't that be troublesome?" Naruto asked while looking around.

"No. Don't worry. Almost no one comes up here, and people can't see us coming out, because the seal is made in a way that keeps us shadowed." Hiruzen answered, while looking at the hole that was now closing again. Hiding the secret room.

The three went down the mountain again. Once down, Hiruzen and Naruto parted ways, but not before Hiruzen told Naruto once again to talk to Minato seriously. Telling him it was for the best. Naruto didn't answer, and just waved goodbye. Watching as Hiruzen disappeared down the road, in the direction of his house.

Naruto stood there for another minute or so, and then lowered his waving hand and looked sown towards Daiki. "Alright buddy. There's still someone we got to visit before going home. So come on." Naruto said and walked down the road. _"And I don't have flowers for her again today, even though I promised her…"_ he thought.

XXX

Minato was having another tough day. T&I had yet to find anything out of the remaining Kumo-nin, which was surprising him, since the head of T&I usually worked really fast. And there had been a letter from the Raikage, which he hadn't answered yet, asking about the answer to the alliance. Then there was the thing with the Akatsuki, even though he couldn't really do a lot about that at the moment. Tsunade, who had come again in the morning, telling him that there had been an increased rate of injured Shinobi coming back from missions, which was really worrying. And lastly, his son. He had already received note that Naruto skipped classes today, but Minato decided to let it slide this once. He was really worried about Naruto's first kill. Naruto was a very caring person to begin with. Killing someone would certainly leave its scars. And he was only 8 years old after all. But Minato couldn't help Naruto as long as he hadn't dealt with the kill himself. As long as he hadn't accepted the fact. Minato had thought back to his first kill. He had been 12 years old, quite a lot older than Naruto. And an actual Shinobi. Back then, he had acted like Naruto. He saw himself in Naruto the moment he said he didn't feel anything about the kill. It was the moment he had realised that he wouldn't be able to help him just yet. Minato had needed 3 days to accept his kill. 3 days where he had pretended that his kill hadn't happened. That he hadn't taken the life of another living being. As an orphan, he didn't have parents to talk to, and the only person that he confided in was Jiraiya. And with his help, he had managed to move on. But he had cried his eyes out for hours before calming down.

Minato looked out of the window. The sun had already set. He sighed. He would take care of the rest tomorrow. He stretched and got up from his seat and went out. He had sent Kana home about an hour ago, and the rest of the workers had left hours ago as well. He was the last one to leave. Like always. He then went on his way home. Arriving home, he entered the house and was tackled to the ground by his youngest son.

"Tou-chan! Your back. Finally someone here." Kei said with a big grin.

"Hello Kei. Naruto isn't back yet?"

Kei shook his head. "Nope. Not yet. Tou-chan, I'm hungry." Kei said and stared at Minato with a very serious expression.

Minato laughed. Kei could get really grumpy when he was hungry. "I got it. I'd start right away, but I think you'll have to let me go for that." Minato said with a smile.

Kei let go of Minato right away, and ran into the kitchen, waiting for Minato to join him to make something to eat. Naruto arrived shortly after Minato and Kei had finished eating.

"We would have waited, but I didn't know when you'd be back." Minato said to Naruto, who was now also struggling with getting his little brother off him, as he had met the same greeting as Minato had earlier.

"I know, don't worry." Naruto said. "Daiki, help me out a bit will you?" Naruto asked his partner pleadingly. Daiki just stared at Naruto for a few seconds, before he walked over to Kei and tugged at his shirt. It wasn't a very hard attempt from Daiki's part, like he didn't really care. But it was enough to grab Kei's attention. He let go of Naruto and climbed on Daiki. Daiki then led Kei upstairs, into his room.

There was a silence between Naruto and Minato for a few minutes. And Naruto was the one to break it first.

"How is it justified?" Naruto asked.

Minato could see that Naruto's eyes were very red, like he had been crying. Naruto was now biting his lower lip and looking to the ground.

"What?" Minato asked, although he knew what Naruto had meant.

"How can my murder possibly be justified?" Naruto asked again, but this time he looked at Minato. The pain in his eyes and the guilt so deep, that Minato felt the pain inside himself as well.

"It can't. At least not really." Minato answered.

"What does that mean? I don't get it. I killed a man. I destroyed a family. How could that be justified? How can what we do possibly be the right thing?" Naruto asked again. The tears flowing down his face again. He had though that he had cried himself dry today, but apparently he hadn't.

Minato closed his eyes for a few seconds. He opened them then again and turned away from Naruto. "Kei! Your brother and I have to go out for a bit. We'll be back soon. Stay with Daiki." He shouted out, and after hearing Kei's "Okay" he turned towards a now confused Naruto. "Come with me." he said in a gentle tone towards Naruto.

Minato walked out into the streets, followed by Naruto. The tears had stopped. Probably because Naruto was quite confused about his current situation. What did his father want to show him? They walked for some time, and Minato stopped in front of a gate. Not a village gate, but a clan gate. They were at the Hyuuga compound.

"What are we doing here?" Naruto asked. He had been here a few times, mostly with his mother.

"I want to show you how it can be justified. To us at least." Minato stated while looking at his son over his shoulder.

"Minato!" Hiashi called out. He was just coming out of the main house. "What can I do for you?" Hiashi asked and let his gaze fall on Naruto, whose cheeks were stained with his tears. But Hiashi didn't ask about it and let his gaze fall back on Minato.

"Good evening, Hiashi. I'm sorry for coming without notice." Minato said with a slight bow. He might be the Hokage, but that didn't mean he could just show up at anyone's doorstep. Well he could, but it didn't really make him look good.

"Not at all." Hiashi said with a wave of his hand.

"I was wondering if we could come in for a bit?" Minato asked while tilting his head towards Naruto. Trying to tell Hiashi why he was here. Hiashi looked back at Naruto for a second, and then back at Minato.

"Of course. Please come in." Hiashi said and led Minato and Naruto into the house and into a big room, where he motioned for the two to sit down. "Please wait here, I'll be right back." Hiashi said and left the room.

"I still don't get what we're doing here." Naruto said to his father.

Minato just smiled kindly at Naruto. "You'll see." He just said.

Moments later the door opened again, and Hiashi came in, followed by Hitomi and little Hinata. Hitomi's eyes lit up when he saw Naruto, and she smiled kindly. "Minato-kun, Naruto-kun, good evening." She said with a bow. "Come on Hinata-chan. Say hello."

Hinata was hiding behind Hitomi's Kimono. Only her head was sticking out. "G-Good Evening." She said quietly.

Naruto's eyes were glued on Hinata, whose pale eyes that were the proof of her affiliation to the Hyuuga family, were pointed to the ground.

"That's the reason what we do is justified, Naruto." Minato said kindly to his son, while placing a hand on his shoulder. "Even if it doesn't feel right. We do it to protect. To keep our important people safe. To keep our village and the families in it safe." He continued.

Tears were once again streaming down Naruto's cheeks. And before he knew it, he started to sob uncontrollably. He close his eyes and clenched his fists in an attempt to keep the tears back. To no avail. Minato's grip on his shoulder became slightly stronger. Comforting him.

Minato looked down sadly at his son. He then looked at Hiashi and bowed his head as a thanks. Naruto had needed to see the life he had saved. Not the one he had ended.

Hitomi looked down at Naruto with a sad expression. Hiashi had told her about what Naruto had done, so she understood his actions really well. She looked down in surprise when she noticed her Kimono moving.

Hinata was really confused. Why was Kei-kun's brother crying? She had met him a few times, when Kushina had come over so she could play with Kei. She didn't really know him that well though. But she had nonetheless never seen him cry, or even look sad. He was always smiling. So why wasn't he now? And why weren't the adults doing anything? Hinata slowly moved from her position behind her mother and made her way towards the crying boy. "D-Don't cry. I-It's okay." Hinata said and grabbed Naruto's clenched fist. While being very shy, she still couldn't just stand there and not do anything when she saw someone sad. It made her sad as well.

Naruto heard Hinata's words, and her hand grabbing his. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at a very confused and worried Hinata. Naruto's sobs became stronger. He couldn't help it. There was that 5 year old girl that was comforting him. The girl that he had saved. That he had killed for.

Naruto had always wanted to protect the people important to him. That's why he was training, that's why he had sealed the Kyuubi in himself. But actually killing someone. He hadn't thought it would be so difficult. So filled with guilt. He hadn't grasped the real meaning of his dream to protect. Not until now.

Hinata seemed to be at a loss at to what to do. She looked around at her mother, but she was just smiling down at Hinata. Confusing the girl even more. Hinata then felt Naruto giving her a squeeze, and she turned around.

Tears were still running down Naruto's face, but on his face laid a kind smile. "Thank you. Hinata-chan." Naruto brushed the tears away with his arm, and then let go of Hinata's hand. He turned his head towards his father, and nodded a confident nod. Minato smiled down at him and gave his shoulder a squeeze. Naruto had understood.

Hinata seemed to become uncomfortable and ran back towards her mother. She grabbed Hitomi's Kimono and looked up at her.

"Thank you for letting us in." Minato said towards Hiashi and Hitomi and bowed his head. "You really helped greatly."

Hiashi shook his head. "It's the least we can do." He turned his head towards Naruto, but didn't say anything.

"That's right." Hitomi smiled at Minato. Then turned her gaze to the younger blond. "Naruto-kun." She started and crouched down to be on Naruto's height. She then gave him a peck on his cheek. "Thank you." She said with a kind smile on her face.

Naruto slightly blushed, but he smiled at Hitomi with a foxy grin.

"We'll be taking our leave again then. Have a good night." Minato said.

"Yes. Thank you." Naruto said and bowed. He then looked at Hinata and smiled at Hinata. "Good luck with the Academy, Hinata-chan. Give it your all."

Hinata didn't answer, just nodded slightly while hiding behind Hitomi's Kimono once again.

Naruto and Minato then left the compound and went back to their home. Once home, Minato went to tuck in Kei, and Naruto ate his dinner real fast, handing Daiki the leftovers. Minato came down again and sat down on the couch in the living room. Naruto turned towards the stairs and without looking at his father he said. "Arigatou, Tou-san."

Minato smiled. "Your welcome. Sorry about that lame attempt this morning, but you hadn't really dealt with it at that time… So I couldn't really do anything." He said in an apologizing tone and scratched the back of his head, like Naruto did so many times as well.

Naruto laughed at that. He looked at his father over his shoulder "Yeah. Don't worry. I'll go to bed too then. Kaa-san is coming back tomorrow right?" He asked.

"Yep. Tomorrow evening. Do you want to tell her about it, or shall I?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

"Ano… Can you do that? I think she'd strangle me…" Naruto said worriedly.

Minato laughed slightly. _"She's going to strangle me then. For letting it happen in the first place."_ He thought. "Alright. Then good night, Naruto."

"Thanks! Good night." Naruto said and ran up the stairs into his room, followed once again by his loyal companion.

XXX

Morning came by really fast, and Naruto soon found himself in the kitchen like the morning before. Today was a day off from the academy, so Naruto would soon meet up with Itachi at the clearing, so they could train. He quickly left a note on the kitchen table, letting Kei know that he had already left, and that he should head over to Hiruzen once he woke up. While Naruto was told by his father that he should bring Kei over to Hiruzen, Naruto had sometimes left Kei go on his own. He was old enough after all, but Minato had always told him he didn't want Kei to go around alone. And whenever Naruto brought up the fact that he used to go around on his own at that age, Minato always changed the subject. So Naruto and Kei had kept that a secret.

Naruto ate some breakfast and gave Daiki his share as well, and then the two of them left the house. Naruto was walking slowly down the road towards the clearing. He was deep in thought and before he knew it, he had reached the clearing. Itachi hadn't arrived yet, so Naruto started with the warm up on his own.

Naruto was nervous. He hadn't seen Itachi since the attack the other night, and somehow he was nervous to meet him again. He felt Itachi's chakra signature coming closer, and he turned around to meet him. Itachi jumped down from the tree and landed in a crouched position.

Naruto raised his arm in greeting. "Yo." He said with a smile. He couldn't help but think back to the attack. Itachi had been the actual reason why he had moved to attack and kill the Shinobi. Hinata had been the reason why and Itachi had gone after them, but in the moment of the attack, his best friend had been in danger, and that was why Naruto had moved in. For him and for Hinata he had killed. Naruto let go of a sigh. His nervousness leaving him slowly.

Itachi studied Naruto for a few seconds. "Morning." He said and nodded to his friend. He then greeted Daiki by scratching his head, but didn't let Naruto out of his sight.

Naruto let out a nervous laugh. Itachi staring really creeped him out sometimes. "How are you?" Naruto asked.

Itachi kept staring. "I'm good. You?" He asked curiously.

Naruto nodded. "I'm good." He answered.

"You weren't at school yesterday." He stated.

"Yeah, had some thinking to do." He said scratching his head.

Itachi nodded. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Naruto would have some troubles dealing with the kill. Itachi seemed uncomfortable, but he was curious. So he asked. "How is it? To kill I mean?"

Naruto stared a moment but then answered. "It's… not easy… I don't like it. But I know I'll have to kill again." Naruto stated. There was a strange kind of determination in his eyes. The same determination he had in his eyes as the night he had sealed the Kyuubi. The determination to protect.

Itachi nodded. He wouldn't really know what it would be like unless he would actually kill. Itachi then decided to change the direction of their conversation away from the kill. "There's something that I need to show you." Itachi said and walked into the middle of the clearing and turned to Naruto again. "It happened so fast, that I only really realised after I went home that evening." Itachi stated and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the heirloom of the Uchiha-clan, the Sharingan, was spinning, until it settled down. Two tomoe in each eye. "I activated the Sharingan."

XXX

 **Alright. That's it.**

 **I really like music (okay, big understatement, but who cares...), and music has always motivated me, so I decided to include some in my story. The phantom is my own messenger in a way… Well… yeah… That, and something else… But I won't tell. ^^**

 **Hope you enjoyed it.** **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, I'm back again. Thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites and following my story.**

 **I'm really sorry for taking so long. Can't believe it's been almost 2 month… Things have been quite stressful around here, so I hope you'll forgive me… Well that, and I did have a few difficulties writing this part… Don't know if that is normal, though I've heard of a few people that had the same problems… I didn't give a name to this chapter, simply because I don't know what to call it… Maybe you have an idea? Next one will have a name again.**

 **Although I'm late, I hope all of you had a great Christmas and a good start into the New Year. I certainly did.**

 **Enjoy**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 10

Naruto stared at Itachi for what seemed like an hour. He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but closed it again. He tried again, this time succeeding in talking.

"Sha-… Sharingan!" He shouted out. "No way! Don't Uchiha's usually get it only later?!"

Itachi closed his eyes again, and after opening them again, the Sharingan was replaces by his onyx eyes. "Usually one doesn't get involved in a fight before becoming a genin." Itachi rebutted.

Naruto just stared at him, and Itachi sighed. "Fine. While it's true about the fighting part, there hasn't been anyone that activated the Sharingan so early. According to my father." Itachi added the last part and looked to the ground. After he had told Fugaku about the Sharingan, he had gone all about how much of a prodigy he was, and how the Uchiha's were the most powerful. It infuriated Itachi. He had trained for hours every day since he was five, and had even started before that. Sure he might have a bit more talent than others, but he still worked very hard. Talent or Bloodlines wasn't everything. One had to train hard to reach something.

"Ah… I see." Naruto said. He understood Itachi's feelings. He believed in the same after all. "But still very cool." Naruto said with a grin. "You might have just jumped ahead of me with that." Naruto said with a mock pout.

Itachi just shook his head. "My physical abilities haven't changed. I'm still slower than you. The Sharingan doesn't take that away. And learning Jutsus might be easier, but that doesn't mean I'll master them right away. The Sharingan needs training, like everything else as well." He stated.

Naruto sighed. "It almost feels like you're not happy about it."

"I'm just stating facts." Itachi said, which resulted in Naruto staring at him once again. "And I am happy about it." He added.

Naruto grinned. Then he remembered something, and his expression turned serious. "I got something to tell you as well." Naruto said and concentrated on his surroundings. They were alone in the clearing. _"Good."_

Itachi noticed that Naruto had searched the clearing and had turned serious. He furrowed his brows and looked expectantly at Naruto.

"I overheard a conversation of my father and Jiraiya. That night I mean. Baa-chan gave me some sedative but it didn't really work all night…" Naruto said and shook his head. "Anyway. There… There are some people out there who seem to be after me." Naruto said. Itachi wanted to interrupt, but Naruto just raised his hand to silence him. "Well not really after me, more like after the fox. Which kinda results in being after me though…" He said and went with his right hand through his hair.

"What?" Itachi just asked.

"Jiraiya said, that they were called Akatsuki, and that they were after Jinjuriki. Some high ranked Shinobi apparently." Naruto said.

Itachi shook his head. "You need to tell your father about the Kyuubi." He stated.

Naruto stayed silent for a few seconds. He then shook his head. "I can't."

"Why? If Shinobi's are after you, then your father should know. Not only for your own safety, but for the safety of the village." Itachi said seriously.

"That's the thing. According to Jiraiya, Akatsuki doesn't know where the Kyuubi is. And… Jiraiya said, that it was a good thing that no one knows of its whereabouts. That way, Akatsuki would leave Konoha alone. At least for now."

"So basically, the less people know, the better?" Itachi asked with a raised eyebrow. He then shook his head. "I don't know, I mean, they probably already know that it's in Konoha right? They have to expect that. Your mother was known to have lost control over the Kyuubi's chakra when she was in a pinch, you are most likely going to do the same. Just because you haven't been able to come into any contact with the Kyuubi yet, certainly doesn't mean you never will. People will know right away that it's you." Itachi finished and looked deep in thought.

Naruto frowned. "You're right, but… What if there are spies? Or what if, somehow the information gets out? ANBU are all over the place, once my father knows, others are bound to follow. In some way…" Naruto stated worriedly.

Itachi sighed. "You're right too… You'd need some secret identity or something… So they'd know it's in Konoha, but they wouldn't know who it is… Or something like that." Itachi said and shrugged his shoulders.

Naruto sighed as well. "Yeah… That would be great. The most secretive would be ANBU, but my father knows all of their identities so that's out…" Naruto said and sighed. "AARGH! I'll think of something. Just wanted to talk to someone about it." He said.

Itachi nodded. This was a lot more complicated than Naruto made it out to be, but Itachi decided to stay quiet.

"Alright. Let's start training." Naruto said and went into fighting position, followed by Itachi. Daiki meanwhile walked out towards the edge of the clearing, already used to this scene and knowing he would be in the way.

XXX

Naruto and Itachi had just finished their training, Itachi had won their spar today, and Naruto had had his first experience fighting the Sharingan. Like Itachi had said, the Sharingan didn't make Itachi faster, but it sure as hell helped him predict Naruto. Something really hard to do. But Naruto had nonetheless kept up quite well with the Sharingan, and was able to land quite a few hits himself. He just needed some more experience.

Naruto and Daiki were now walking down the street, and stopped when they arrived in front of a flower shop. The Yamanaka Flower Shop. Naruto went in and looked at the different flowers. He had no knowledge about flowers, so he walked towards the woman at the counter. She had brown hair that she had attached in a bun, brown eyes and was wearing a blue dress. She wore a kind smile.

"Good day, Yumi-san. Could you help me today as well?" Naruto asked the woman, that he already knew all too well, since he had come by at least once a month in the past two years to get some flowers.

"Hello Naruto-kun. I would love to help you. Anything special you want to say?" She asked but she already went to pick up a pink carnation. "I believe this one will be in it, as usual?"

Naruto smiled. He had always gotten a pink carnation, which said _I will never forget you_. "As usual." Naruto said and closed his eyes. "Purity. And Love." He said.

She nodded and went to pick up a white Lily, and a red Rose. She continued to pick out a few flowers that were meant to give the bouquet some different colours. She then went back to the counter and tied a ribbon around the bouquet. She gave it to Naruto. "On your Tab, as usual?" She asked.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I swear, I'll pay you back as soon as I earn some money." He said. He currently had debts all over the place. He still owed Tsume a lot of Money for Daiki. And now Yumi, and he also owed some shinobi shop owners money. Usually, people wouldn't sell to someone that had no money. But being the Hokage's son did have its perks.

"No worries. I'm sure you'll pay me back in no time." She said and handed him the small flower bouquet. "I'll see you soon then."

"Yeah. Bye, Yumi-san. And thank you as always." Naruto said with a slight bow and went out again.

Naruto and Daiki were walking towards the graveyard, and Naruto walked straight towards the grave of his little sister.

"Hey there, Akemi. I finally brought you some flowers." He said and put the flowers down on the stone. He then sat down crossed legged in front of the gravestone, Daiki laying down beside him and putting his head on Naruto's knee. "I lost against Itachi today. He activated his Sharingan you know? It's really cool. But he could tell almost all of my moves, which was kinda annoying. But I'll work hard, and make sure that the Sharingan won't let him get all that far ahead. I'm sure there are some counters." Naruto said. "Kaa-san is coming back from her mission today. She'll probably flip out once Tou-san tells her about the Kumo-nin. Tou-san is doing well by the way. He works hard, but he's doing well. And Kei. Kei is going to enter the Academy in a few days. He's really excited. Like I was back then." Naruto continued. "I'll introduce the two of you someday. I'm sure you'd like him." Naruto said with a small smile. "Maybe Kaa-san and Tou-san will come one day as well…" Naruto said and his smile turned sad. "They haven't forgotten you. They just don't know how to deal with your death, I think…" Naruto said. Then his features lighted up. "But you know what? The first three years of the Academy have past, which means, we'll soon start with more practical Lessons!" Naruto said with an excited smile. He talked some more to his sister before he looked at the sky. It had gotten late already, so he should probably be heading home. Kushina would also come back soon. "Got to go again, Akemi." Naruto said and got up from his seated position. "I'll visit again tomorrow." Naruto said and walked away.

Arriving home he was tackled by his little brother once again. "Ni-chan!" Kei cried out. "Where were you all day? Kaa-chan came back an hour ago and she's really worried. Did something happen, are you hurt?" Kei asked with worry.

Naruto had no time to answer as Kushina came running into the hallway in that instant. "Naruto!" She cried out and ran over to Naruto to engulf him in a crashing hug. "Are you alright?" Kushina asked and looked over every inch of Naruto.

Naruto laughed nervously. "I'm fine Kaa-san. Nothing to worry about." He said, trying to calm down his mother.

"Fine? FINE?" Kushina shouted. "You were in a fight! What were you thinking? Do you have a death wish?" She shouted. "And why were you the one to fight? Itachi-kun is stronger than you. It would have been smarter to have him fight! You wouldn't have gotten hurt!"

Naruto knew that she was just worried about him. Or mostly. But it still hurt to have her say Itachi was stronger than him. As if she didn't trust him to be able to fight at all. Sure, he would have been killed in seconds had the Kumo Shinobi been serious, but still. He and Itachi were pretty much on the same level. Only because he wasn't as good at the academy as Itachi.

Naruto's eyes turned sad, but Kushina didn't notice. Naruto bit his lip. "Gomen, Kaa-san…" Naruto he said and looked to the ground.

Kei meanwhile looked in between Naruto and Kushina. Confused at what they were talking about.

Kushina seemed to calm down. She took a deep breath. "As long as you understand." She said and went into the kitchen. How about helping me with dinner?" She asked the two boys.

"Hai." they said in unison.

XXX

Minato rubbed his temple. He had just sent Kushina home, after telling her about Naruto's misadventures. And now he was worrying about the next problem. He was sitting in his chair on his desk in the Hokage office, and in front of him stood a tall man with scars over his face. Ibiki Morino. Head of T&I.

"So you're saying that the Raikage had this planned." Minato said. It was no question, but a statement. He was really hoping that this could have been resolved without getting too complicated, meaning that it was a decision of the Shinobis, and not the Kage of Kumogakure.

"I'm afraid so, Hokage-sama." Ibiki said in his deep voice.

Minato closed his eyes and let go of a breath. _"Great."_ He thought. He then looked at Ibiki again. "Very well. Thank you." Minato said towards him, dismissing him.

Ibiki nodded and bowed. He then left the Office.

Minato let a pulse of Chakra run through the Anbu tattoo that he had on his left shoulder, making sure to call only for a certain ANBU. He then interlaced his fingers in front of him and put his head on them, waiting for said ANBU to arrive. He did a few seconds later. The ANBU shunshined into the office, and landed in a crouched position.

"You called, Hokage-sama?" He said. The ANBU wore a white Dog mask, with two blue stripes on each cheek, and blue colour around the eyeholes. He wore the traditional ANBU gear, and had silver, spiky hair.

"Inu. You can take off your mask." Minato said towards the ANBU.

The ANBU go up and took off his Mask, to reveal Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi put his mask on his belt and looked towards Minato. "Problems, Sensei?" Kakashi asked. It wasn't really a question, as Kakashi knew Minato well enough to know that something was wrong by looking at his face.

"You can say that. You know of the Kidnapping attempt on Hinata I presume?" Minato asked. The news hadn't been made public, but most ANBU knew of that matter nonetheless. Such news travelled fast. Especially if it involved the kids of the Hokage and 2 Clan Heirs.

Kakashi just nodded towards his sensei and tilted his head slightly.

"The Raikage had it planned." Was all that Minato said.

Kakashi furrowed his brows. "Damn."

Minato sighed. "Yeah." He said. "Now I need you to head to Kumo with the remaining Kumo-Nin." Minato said. "I'm not willing to let this escalate into another war." Minato said and threw Kakashi a scroll. "Let's see if the Raikage will accept this."

Kakashi looked puzzled at Minato. "This is…?" He asked confused.

"Something that I will accept as a compensation for trying to steal our Byakugan, but also something that the Raikage should be able to accept without too much troubles." Minato said. "Tell him if he is willing to accept these conditions, I will consider the Alliance once again."

Kakashi nodded. "Very well. When shall I leave?"

"Right away. Take Koumori and Tenzou with you." Minato said.

Kakashi nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama." He bowed towards Minato and put on his mask once again.

"Be careful Kakashi." Minato said to his last living student, dismissing him with that.

"Hai, Sensei." He said and disappeared in a Shunshin.

"Let's hope this works out." Minato said aloud and rubbed his temple. He then looked towards the picture he had on his desk. A picture of him and his family, including Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hiruzen and Biwako. He and Naruto were both grinning brightly, Naruto being on Minato's shoulders, and Kei was still a toddler at that time smiling in the arms of his mother. Kushina was grinning brightly as well. Jiraiya was seen glancing at Tsunade's bust and Tsunade ready to hit Jiraiya on the head, her arm already stretching behind her. Hiruzen and Biwako were standing next to Minato and both were smiling kindly into the camera. Hiruzen with his pipe in his mouth. Kakashi, who had always been like a son to Minato, was crouching in front of him, smiling with his only visible eye, Minato having a hand on the teens shoulder.

Minato smiled fondly at the picture. It had been taken before the Kyuubi attack, obviously, since Biwako was present as well. In a time where all of them had still been truly happy. Minato's smile turned sad as he was looking at Kushina's frame in the picture. It was only slightly visible, but her belly was showing signs of pregnancy. "Akemi." He said sadly and slid over Kushina's belly in the picture. Minato sighed deeply. Since the loss of their youngest child, things hadn't been the same in their family anymore. He knew that Kushina still wasn't over it. And neither was he. Things had changed since the Kyuubi attack. And he was doubting that they could ever be the same again.

XXX

Naruto was excited for the first time since starting the academy. Today they would start with the practical curriculum. But Naruto was not the only one that ways excited in the Namikaze family. Kei was going to have his first day today, so he was jumping around the house all morning. Since it was Kei's first day, Naruto had not gone for training in the morning, and instead stayed with Kushina and Kei to eat breakfast, so that he could head to the academy with them.

Naruto was washing the dishes, when Minato arrived in a flash. "Alright guys. Let's head out." Minato said the moment he arrived.

Naruto looked at the dishes he still had to wash. He then turned to his father. "Can we go in 5 minutes, I still got to finish the dishes."

"You don't start school for another hour right? You don't need to hurry. We'll just go ahead." Minato answered.

A hint of sadness crossed Naruto's eyes, but he averted his gaze just in time, to keep his father from seeing. "Ah… Alright. Then I'll see you tonight." Naruto said and continued with the washing of the dishes.

Minato, who had not seen the change of expression on his oldest son, smiled and started to walk out the door. "Have fun today, Naruto."

"See you, Ni-chan." Kei said and waved to his brother and followed his father.

"See you tonight." Kushina said and she too left the house.

Once engulfed in the silence of the house, Naruto sighed. "So much for the family time huh…" Naruto said to himself. Daiki moved over towards him and licked his hand. Naruto then stroked Daiki over the head and smiled at him. "Don't try that. You already got your food." Naruto said. Daiki almost seemed to pout, if a dog could actually do that, and walked back into the living room. Naruto let out a chuckle at his dog's antics and finished the dishes. Naruto sighed. He still had some time left, and if he were to hurry, he could maybe still arrive at the academy to watch his little brother enter the academy for the first time, like Kei had done when he went there for the first time. But he decided against it. Instead, he decided to begin his day with visiting his little sister, and then heading towards the academy himself.

XXX

Naruto arrived at the Academy just in time for the lesson to start. Midori didn't bother scolding Naruto, as she was used to him arriving on the last second. And he wasn't late after all.

Naruto went up to sit in-between Itachi and Hana, like he had done for the past 3 years of the academy. Daiki, who had accompanied him like always, laid own on the ground, next to Hana's dogs, the 3 Haimaru Brothers, who were grey with white undersides and pointy ears. Naruto greeted both Hana and Itachi, and then looked to the front.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's go over the curriculum for the next three years." Midori said and started writing on the black board. "As I already said at the beginning of the academy, the first three years were meant to ease you into the world of the Shinobi. We covered the necessary subjects in theory, and now it's time to enter the physical part of being a shinobi. Chakra control, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu, and Tsunade-sama will be coming to teach you some basic medical Jutsus." She finished her writing on the black board and looked at her students. "Questions?"

None of the hands raised, and Midori nodded. She then opened a drawers of her desk and took out a box. "Alright, then all of you may take a leaf from here. We will start with Chakra Control."

XXX

Naruto woke up with a shout. He looked to the side at his clock. It was 4am. The sun had yet to rise, and thus nothing but the swallow light of the shining moon engulfed his room. He winced as he sat up, and held a hand to his ribs. He had run into Shin last night, who had broken a few of Naruto's ribs during their _chat._ Naruto had had decided against going to see Tsunade, which was why he was now trying with difficulties to get up from his bed. While he didn't have nightmares of the Kyuubi attack every night anymore, he still had them every once in a while.

Daiki still laid on his bed, his right paw was bandaged has he too had been a victim of the beating, though he hadn't been hit so badly, he still got cut on his leg and limped. Naruto was going to make sure to go see Tsume today. If only to make sure that there wasn't another injury to his dog.

Naruto walked towards his closet and took out a pair of long black pants and a long-sleeved, black shirt, which he covered by a thick blue sweater, with a high collar. It was now the end of November now, and thus the temperatures had dropped considerably. He added his Kunai pouch, as well as his Shuriken pouch. He then attached another pouch to his right leg. The pouch contained his sealing material, as well as different scrolls. Naruto slowly opened the door of his bedroom. Making sure to be quiet. He looked back at Daiki, who got up from the bed and limped towards Naruto. The two of them got out of the room and downstairs, slowly walking out of the house, and started walking through the village. He didn't walk fast, since both he and Daiki were still hurt. He walked towards the hospital, were he knew Tsunade would most likely already be present. He went into the hospital and was greeted by the woman at the counter.

"Good morning, Naruto-sama. Tsunade-sama is already here. She's free as well." She said kindly. She was already used to seeing Naruto, although she was slightly surprised by seeing him so early.

Naruto sighed. He had stopped trying to have her call him Naruto. "Good morning to you too, Erina-san. And thanks." Naruto said with a slight bow and left towards Tsunade's office, making sure to hide his troubles with walking.

He entered Tsunade's door without knocking. "Morning, Baa-chan." Naruto said with a grin.

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork and looked at Naruto, "Naruto. Good morning. You're up early. What brings you here?" She asked.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Baa-chan, I think my ribs are broken…"

Tsunade stared at Naruto. "Alright sit down. I'll take care of it." She said and walked towards the bed she had in her office. Naruto sat down and took of his sweater and shirt. He then let Tsunade do her work.

"Want to tell me?" She asked, her gaze shifting towards Daiki's leg that was bandaged.

"Ah… It was the usual. Nothing big. But we have an exam today, so I should be able to move."

"I'm surprised you were attacked in the morning. Isn't it usually at night?" She asked.

Naruto stiffened. "Ah… Yeah, well…"

Tsunade noticed, and stopped for a second. "Naruto?" He asked in a threatening voice.

Naruto jerked at that, and then let go of a sigh. "I got it yesterday evening. I didn't think it was bad enough to come… But it still hurt this morning…" Naruto said. He had hoped that the Kyuubi would heal the injuries overnight, which he did. After all, Naruto had had been cut as well. Those injuries were gone. But the ribs weren't healed.

"I'm telling you to come see me when that happens. How many time have you done that?" She asked in an angry voice.

Naruto gulped. "A few times… AOUTCH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Naruto asked after being hit on the head by an angry Tsunade. Looking into her eyes, Naruto saw a tinge of sadness as well, and his own anger subsided. "Gomen, Baa-chan. I just don't want to bother you all the time…" Naruto said and looked towards the ground.

"You're not bothering me at all. I already worry enough about you, so don't make me worry all the time, thinking that you might be suffering somewhere in a corner." Tsunade said in a small voice that didn't fit her usual self at all.

Naruto looked up at her, she had resumed her treatment on Naruto and was thus looking at his back. "Alright. I got it. I'll make sure to come." Naruto said.

"You better!" She said and took her hands from his back. "You should be fine now." Tsunade said and put her hands on her hip. "You still have some time before school starts. What are you going to do?"

"Need to go to the Inuzukas. Daiki need a check-up." He said and looked at his companion and gave him a sign. He put his cloth back on and walked towards the door. "Thanks Baa-chan. See you later." He said with a wink and walked out of her office. Leaving a now smiling Tsunade behind.

Naruto arrived at the Inuzuka Compound at 5am. He knew for a fact that Tsume was already awake, as he had gone there once at this early hour. And sure enough, she was just getting out of the house, as she spotted Naruto and the limping Daiki. She frowned and stopped in her movements, waiting for Naruto to reach her.

Naruto bowed towards her. "Good morning, Tsume-san." Naruto said.

"Morning Naruto-kun." She said and watched Daiki. "What happened to Daiki?" She asked with a frown still present on her face.

"A small accident during training. Can you take a look?" Naruto asked with a frown as well, while looking at Daiki.

Tsume turned her gaze at Naruto. "Of course, come." She said and started walking towards the medical centre they had on the compound. She opened the door and led the two inside. She then grabbed Daiki and put him on a table. Daiki didn't fight back at all and simply laid down on the table, waiting for Tsume to finish her work. Tsume took of the bandage and studied the cut on Daiki's leg. She then nodded to herself and went to get some utensils. Naruto sat back and watched Tsume do her work, thinking about the exam they would have today. He would have to perform the clone Jutsu that Midori had taught them during class. What Midori didn't know, was that he had mastered that Jutsu 3 years ago, although he hadn't used the Jutsu again in his spars against Itachi. He found the Jutsu to not be ideal in battle, as it was a very simple Illusion that both he and Itachi could see through in mere seconds.

"Alright. This should do." Naruto heard Tsume say. He looked up to see her looking at him. "His bone was slightly cracked, which is why he was limping, but I took care of it. Just make sure he doesn't do any extreme work for the rest of the day and he'll be fine."

Naruto let go of a breath and bowed again to Tsume. "Thank you very much. I'll make sure to repay you." He said and looked up again.

Tsume was staring intently at him. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Be more careful okay?" She said in a worried tone that surprised Naruto.

"Hai. I'm sorry." He said and left his place at the wall, and then the compound.

XXX

 **Alright. That's a wrap. How was it?**

 **I have no clue about flowers either, so please don't blame me if you got a different result on some meanings…**

 **Also, I'm going to update the previous stories as well, since I've noticed a few mistakes. The story itself isn't going to change, but I'll correct some spelling mistakes and such. Just so you know.**

 **Well, hope you liked it. See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	11. Chapter 11: Clone

**Hey guys, I'm back again. Thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites and following my story.**

 **Ehm… I know that the development speed isn't really high, but I really don't want to just jump over everything. So please bear with me. If it's any comfort, I do plan on having another time skip either after the next chapter, or the one after that… I'm still fighting with myself on that matter…**

 **Anyway, enjoy**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 11: Clone

"Alright. Time for the exam. I hope you all trained this Jutsu well." Midori said towards the students that were sitting calmly in their seat. She let her gaze pass over all the students before continuing. "You will all come down and perform one clone. That is all. Those who can do more are free to do so, but the requirement is only one." She then looked down at her clipboard. She opened her mouth to call one name, but stopped when there was a knock on her door. She looked up in surprise. "Enter." She called out. The door opened and in came a young Shinobi with brown hair, which was kept in a ponytail, dark eyes, and a scar that ran across his nose. He wore the traditional Shinobi attire.

"Good morning, Midori-sensei." Said the man with a small bow.

Midori's surprise was still present, but she gave the man a smile and a bow nonetheless. "Iruka-sensei. What brings you here?" She asked kindly.

Iruka seemed surprised at her comment. "Midori-sensei, you do remember that it is parent's day. Right?"

Midori let out a gasp. "Oh damn. I forgot about that..." She said and massaged her temple. She looked towards Iruka again and then saw that behind him were the children's parents. Midori stood up and walked towards the door, and bowed towards the parents. "I'm really sorry, I had unfortunately completely forgotten about parent's day. We were actually about to have an exam, and I can't move it to the afternoon since I won't be teaching, but I could improvise about the lesson if you'd wish, and move the exam to tomorrow…" She said and bowed again.

Naruto meanwhile had followed the whole interaction with indifference. Even if it was parent's day, Naruto did not expect his parents to be here. Well, maybe Kushina had come. But she would most likely be in Kei's class. He thought wrong. He looked up in surprise when he heard an all too familiar voice answer Midori's question.

"I don't think there is a need for that." Answered a smiling Minato who had now appeared in the doorframe, and was now standing next to Iruka.

"H-Hokage-sama!" cried out Midori, and bowed deeply towards him. "You came as well. You must be really busy, and here I am taking even more of your time." She apologized.

Minato chuckled softly. "Of course I came. Both my sons are going to the academy after all." He said and looked into the classroom at Naruto and smiled at him.

"That's right! And wouldn't an exam be more interesting for us to watch?" Asked another familiar voice from behind Minato. Kushina's head now came into view as she looked into the classroom. She smiled at Naruto.

Naruto just had a dumbstruck look on his face. They hadn't come in the past three years, and now, the first year that Kei was at the academy, they came. He slightly bit his lower lip and looked down on his table. But this went unnoticed by his parents, as they were once again concentrating on Midori.

Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the group. Midori smiled and nodded in thanks. "Well then, please come inside. Iruka-sensei, thank you for bringing them over." Midori said and smiled at the young teacher.

Iruka smiled back. "No problem." He said towards Midori. He then turned towards the parents. "For the parents that have children in other classes, just go knock on the door that I showed you before whenever you wish." He said with a smile and bowed towards Minato and Kushina, and then left.

The parents meanwhile walked into the classroom and went to stand in the back. Minato and Kushina had taken the lead and they were followed by a few familiar faces. Fugaku, Mikoto and Tsume were confidently walking behind them, and with a slight distance were the rest of the parents, and even further behind was an elderly woman that was slowly walking towards the back, when Kazuya, the boy that came from the orphanage, go up. "Obaa-chan, please take my seat." He said and pointed towards the chair.

The old woman smiled. "Thank you, Kazuya-kun." She said and slowly sat down on the chair that Kazuya had offered. Kazuya smiled and sat down on the ground next to her.

Naruto smiled at his classmate's consideration. He knew that the old lady was the one leading the orphanage. He had seen her a lot of times. Kazuya's seat was on the desk in front of him, though unlike his, Kazuya's was on the side. Had Kazuya not gotten up, Naruto would have done so instead, but since Kazuya saw that woman as his family, he hadn't really expected Kazuya to ignore her.

In the back, most of the parents were also looking at the scene with a smile.

Midori had taken her place in front of the class once again, and smiled towards the now filled classroom. "Well then. Although I already said it, but since we're having guests now, I'll say it again. The exam is quite simple. You just need to create one clone. If you want to create more, that's fine. But only one is mandatory." She said. She took the clipboard into her hands once again and called out the first name. "Isumi Haruka" She said and looked towards the back.

Haruka was a girl with long, brown hair. She wore a blue T-Shirt and black pants. She slowly got up and timidly walked towards Midori. Once in front of the class, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on her chakra. She then went through the hands seals and called out. "Bushin no Jutsu!" There was a poof of smoke and next to Haruka appeared a slightly pale copy of herself.

Haruka let go of a breath and smiled. She looked towards Midori. "How was that, Midori-sensei?" She asked.

Midori smiled. "Well, you still need some work, but this is the first Jutsu that you learned, and for that it was quite good. You need to work on the speed, and also, you should put a bit more chakra into the clone. Let's say, 70/100 points." She said with a smile. "Good work."

Haruka smiled, bowed and walked back towards her seat. She flashed her parents on the back a smile.

"Uchiha Itachi." Midori called.

Itachi got up, walked down towards the front, went through the hand seals and quietly said, "Bushin no Jutsu." There was a poof, and next to Itachi stood three identical copies.

There was silence in the room, and Naruto had to stifle his laugh. Fugaku didn't seem impressed, but Mikoto had a smile on her face, just like Minato, Kushina and Tsume had.

Midori stared at Itachi for a second, then shook her head with a smile. "Perfect. 100/100."

Itachi bowed, and while completely ignoring the stares of his classmates, went to sit on his place again. Although his classmates were used to Itachi being on top, the fact that he pulled off not just one, but three perfect clones, was still stunning them.

"Takahiko Daichi." Midori called out.

Daichi, who had declared on the first day of school that he would become the greatest Shinobi, let out a grumble. He went to the front, and went through the hand seals and shouted out with great concentration the name of the Jutsu. There was a poof of smoke, and out came… nothing. Daichi starred at the space and let out a nervous laugh.

Midori shook her head. "You'll need to work on that. You used the wrong seals. It's Ram, Snake, and Tiger." She said showing the signs again. "0 points." She said strictly.

Daichi pouted and went back to his seat.

"Namikaze Naruto." Midori called out.

Naruto got up from his seat and walked towards the front. He concentrated a small amount of chakra and went through the hand seals. Although he had mastered the technique three years ago, he wasn't planning on revealing that fact. He concentrated enough chakra for one clone, and said "Bushin no Jutsu." There was, once again a poof of smoke. Naruto looked towards the smoke and waited for it to dissipate, in order to show his clone. When the smoke dissipated, Naruto looked in shock to the ground, where a very sickly, very pale version of himself laid. It didn't look alive at all. _"What the…?! What happened?"_ He thought. He furrowed his brows. This didn't make any sense. He should be able to perform a perfect clone. He had done so already. So why did it look like it was dead?

"Well, Naruto-kun, it seems like you'll need to work on that a bit more. You used too much chakra it seems. But since you still managed to make a clone appear, I'll give you a 30/100." Midori said slightly timidly.

"There's no need for that." Naruto heard his father say from behind him. Naruto didn't need to turn around to see that his father was angry. He unconsciously stiffened. "You don't need to give him points for a performance like this. This is worse than not being able to create a clone in the first place. It would turn him into a laughing stock in front of the enemy." He said strictly. While the words seemed to be directed to Midori, Naruto, as well as everyone else in the room knew that they were meant for Naruto. "I took time to come here, and this is what you show me?!" Minato scolded Naruto.

Naruto hung his head. "I'm sorry, Otou-san…" He said and slowly turned his head up towards his father, meeting his angry glare. Naruto flinched. Minato looked ready to hit him.

"Minato." Kushina called from behind him. Minato turned around to look at his wife. She seemed to say Minato something with her gaze, and Minato let go of a breath.

"I'm sorry for causing a commotion, Midori-san, I was expecting more from him." He said with a slight glare towards Naruto, who still hung his head.

"No… Not at all." Midori answered. "I'm sorry, it seems I didn't do a good enough job…" She said and bowed deeply.

"No. Midori-sensei. This was simply Naruto not working hard enough." Kushina said towards the woman. Kushina turned her gaze towards Naruto and looked at him disappointedly. She let go of a breath.

Naruto was still standing there, head low, waiting for the end. It came with the sound of an alarm.

"Ah… Is it already time for the break?!" Midori said looking at the watch on her back. "Well then, let's take a short break." She said with a small smile.

Slowly, the students and the parents walked past Naruto, Minato and Kushina. The students staring at Naruto while passing him, and the parents seemed to murmur about him as well. Itachi gave Naruto a confused look, but Naruto was still staring to the ground. Once everyone was outside, Minato turned his glare once again towards Naruto.

"This is really disappointing. Do you have any idea how you just made us look? How many times do I need to tell you that you need to be aware of your position? You train with Itachi every day. How is it possible for you to be so far behind him?" He ranted.

Naruto bit his lip, but he didn't say anything.

"You won't say anything?" Minato asked with furrowed brows.

"Minato. We can have this conversation later. This is only a short break. How about we head over to Iruka-kun's lessons?" Kushina asked with a hand on Minato's shoulder.

Minato took a breath and nodded towards her. He then turned towards Midori. "Midori-san, I'm really sorry for the poor performance of my son. Please rest assured that I do not hold you responsible in any way, after all, until now your students have done a good job." Minato said with a small smile.

"Yes… Thank you." Midori said and bowed. "Then. Please have a nice day, Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama."

"Thank you. You as well." Minato answered and walked past Naruto, not looking at him. Kushina gave Midori a small bow and walked after Minato, giving Naruto a last look before heading out of the door.

Midori and Naruto now stood in the classroom alone. Midori looked at Naruto with furrowed brows, but not out of anger, but confusion. Midori was well aware of the rumours about Naruto. And they were still that. Only rumours. She had resented Naruto for the first year that he was in the academy, because she had held him responsible for the attack, like many others had as well. She had lost her husband during the attack, so her resentment was not small. Only a year after the incident, when she had one day headed home from school and had planned to visit her husband's grave, was when she saw him. Naruto, sitting in the middle of former training ground 21, in front of a grave, his small dog on his lap. She had planned on walking up to him, but she hadn't been able to move, and instead had watched him for almost an hour. Her feet not leading her away. She had watched how Naruto had slowly gotten up from his position, and Midori had, without really knowing why, gone into hiding. She had watched Naruto walk past her with a sad smile on his face, and once he arrived at the entrance of the cemetery, he had stopped. Midori had thought for a second that he had seen her, but Naruto didn't turn towards her hiding spot. She had seen Naruto take a deep breath and then he had started too smile. He turned towards his dog, and had said. "Let's go, Daiki. We'll be late for dinner." And then he had started to run into the streets, disappearing from sigh. Midori had watched him disappear and then had made her way towards the grave Naruto had been in front of. She looked shocked at the grave in front of her. _Akemi Namikaze._ She'd had forgotten about that. The Kyuubi had gotten free during the birth giving of the Hokage's wife. So this was, most likely, that child. Naruto's sibling.

After that day, Midori's behaviour towards Naruto had changed. After all, he was just a kid. Even if he was the reason the Kyuubi had gotten free, he too had lost something that day. How could she hold a child responsible for something like that? Her husband wouldn't want her to hold a child responsible either. It wasn't like Naruto had wanted that to happen after all. So after that day, she had started to watch Naruto a bit closer, from the perspective of an understanding adult, and had seen the real Naruto. The kind, happy and considerate Naruto. But also the talented Naruto. She had seen his behaviour in class, and she had taken all of his exams.

She didn't know why, but it seemed like Naruto was hiding some of his real strength. Sure, his grades in theory seemed to be real, but from what she had seen, his Kunai and Shuriken throwing were at least as good as Itachi's. Maybe even better. She had needed some time so see the pattern, but she had seen it. The fact that even though Naruto had never hit bullseye during the exam, but always the same spots. For all the exams. Always the same. First she had though it to be a coincidence, but how much of a coincidence can it be, if he always hits the same place? So she had started to compare all of his past target-papers. And they were identical, all besides the first one.

But that wasn't all. He and Itachi had been the first to master the leaf exercise. Or rather, they had already mastered it before she had taught it to them. So she had been sure that, just like Itachi, Naruto wouldn't have any troubles with something as simple as the Clone Jutsu. It used so little Chakra, and was the easiest Jutsu out of the three Jutsus they had to learn for the graduation. So now, she was confused. Why wasn't he able to do it?

Midori had never told his parents about this, since she believed Naruto to have his reason not to show his real strength, and she had planned on finding out about it before talking to them.

Midori was about to ask him, when the bell rung once again, and the students and parents came in once again. Beside Minato and Kushina, Fugaku and Mikoto had probably also gone towards Iruka's class, since their youngest sons were both in his class. While Tsume also had her youngest son in Iruka's class, she still hadn't seen Hana perform, so she had come back.

Naruto made his way back towards his seat, and just waited for the morning to pass. While he didn't understand why he wasn't able to do the Jutsu, the words of his father were still haunting his mind. He didn't even react to the pat on the shoulder that Hana seemed to give him after she had sat down, or the comforting look that Itachi gave him. He just stared at his desk.

XXX

Naruto was now sitting outside of the academy on a swing. Itachi and Hana were sitting on the ground next to him. Hana had been able to perform one good clone, and had received 100 points just like Itachi. Lunch was almost over, and they had to go back to class soon.

"Don't take it too hard, Naruto." Hana said trying once again to cheer her friend up. "At least you got to make something. Daichi didn't manage to bring anything out, and I think your father was…" She stopped when she felt Itachi's hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, telling her to stop. She looked at him with furrowed brows, but Itachi knew Naruto a lot better than her, so she stopped.

Naruto let go of a breath, and got up. "It's gonna ring, let's go." He said and started to walk towards the academy. Hana and Itachi got up as well and followed him. Sure enough, the bell rung the moment they entered the classroom. Naruto who had walked ahead was already sitting in his chair.

"You just know exactly when it's going to ring huh?!" Hana said with a smile. "But you know that our teacher is always late anyway, so why- OUCH. WHAT THE… Oh Tsunade-sama… Good day…" Hana said timidly. Behind her stood a rather annoyed Tsunade, fist still in the air after hitting Hana on the head.

"Well I'm sorry for being late, but I'm actually a busy person." She said. Her gaze went towards Naruto. "You okay?" She asked him. He was a bit too quiet for her liking.

Naruto gave her a smile. "I'm okay. No biggie."

Tsunade furrowed her brows and walked to the front. The rest of the students had meanwhile entered the classroom and taken their seat.

"Alright. Now before we start with the lesson, I have orders to do a check up on you guys. New regulations. Those check-ups will be held once a month until you graduate. The point is to keep an eye on your physical condition, since you will be starting with endurance and muscle training soon." She said. "We'll go with the order of your seats. When one comes back, the next goes in. Understood?" She asked but didn't wait for an answer as she continued right away. "While the check-up takes place, please read through the book _Anatomy II_. Alright. You!" She pointed at Daichi. "You come first. What's your name again?"

"Takahiko Daichi." said Daichi. He then added under his breath. "It's been 1 month since you started teaching us… Start remembering names…"

"What was that?" Tsunade asked with a glare.

Daichi flinched. "Nothing Tsunade-sama." The rest of the class chuckled at their classmate.

XXX

Naruto looked up when Itachi came back into the classroom. So it was his turn. "You wait here." He said towards his companion on the ground. Daiki didn't move an inch. "Lazy fella." Naruto got up and walked past him. "How's your evaluation?" Naruto asked.

"No problem." He answered and sat down on his seat. "You better hurry. She's in a bad mood." He said and started reading again.

Naruto chuckled and walked out of the room and into the room across. He walked in and saw Tsunade write down into a book. "Does the evaluation come into the Medical File as well?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade looked up. She looked annoyed. "Knock before you enter, gaki." She said.

"Hai Hai."

Tsunade got up from her seat and walked towards Naruto. "Take off your shirt and pants." She said and walked past him towards the wall. "Then stand here. I need to measure your height and your weigh. And yes. Since it's a medical check-up, it comes into your medical file." She said.

Naruto did as told and stood at the wall.

"Still shorter than Itachi." She said with a smirk.

"So what?! I'm still growing…" Naruto said and crossed his arms over his chest.

Tsunade just chuckled. "So? What has you so down?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto deflated, and gave a sigh. "Just some family business. Nothing outrageous." He said.

Tsunade, noticing that Naruto didn't want to talk about it, let the subject drop. She did some more checks on Naruto, even though she already knew his condition perfectly, since he came to see her every so often. It would seem strange if he went back after a much shorter time than the others. After some time, she nodded, and went back behind the desk. "You can put your clothes back on and go back."

Naruto did as told and asked. "So Baa-chan, how am I?"

Tsunade looked up for a second, and then started to write into Naruto's file. "No problem."

"Sweet!" Naruto grinned and walked to the door. "See you later then, Baa-chan." And went out.

XXX

The rest of the lesson had passed quickly. After Tsunade had finished her Check-ups, she had taught them what to do when someone got stabbed, and told them in which situations it was ok to take out the Kunai/shuriken/sword or whatever was imbedded into the Person, and in which situations it would cause the death of the person. Of course, all Tsunade had been teaching them was first aid, and how to keep the "patient" alive until a medic-nin arrived at the scene. But it was already really helpful, and Naruto made sure to remember everything she told them. Tsunade was also using every opportunity to promote being a medic-nin. Konoha was still short on them after all. And it seemed like Haruka had taken a liking to it.

Naruto and Daiki were now walking towards the Stone faces. While he would have usually gone training with Itachi, he had called off the training. Itachi had seemed slightly reluctant about it at first, but had accepted it nonetheless. Hana had just been confused. Even though she considered herself close friends with Naruto and Itachi, she still knew that the two of them were at least ten times closer. So Naruto had bid them goodbye and had left in direction of the stone faces.

Naruto had yet to tell Itachi about that place, but he didn't know if he was allowed to tell him in the first place. He would need to ask Hiruzen about that. Naruto arrived at the base of the stone faces and then went up the stairs towards the top. He checked his surroundings for possible onlookers, and after confirming being alone, went into the stone face.

Arriving inside the room, Naruto went straight towards the sofa in front of the bookshelf, and threw himself onto it. He put his arm over his eyes and let go of a breath. He let the incidents of the day pass through his head again. His parents coming to parents' day by for the first time in 3 years, failing miserably in the exam, being scolded for it by his parents. Not to mention that it had been really embarrassing to be treated like that in front of his classmates.

"AARGH! DAMN IT!" Naruto shouted and sat up on the sofa. Daiki didn't even look up from his position on the other sofa, and just kept laying there.

Naruto went through the hand seals for the Jutsu again, and said "Bushin no Jutsu!" There was a poof of smoke, and just like during class, the clone was nothing but a very poor copy of himself, that was dead on the ground. So he did it again with less Chakra. And again. And again… Never reaching any actual result. "Why?! Why isn't it working?" He asked into the room. Of course, no answer came. So Naruto turned towards the Bookshelf, and then walked towards it with determination. This room was made by the Shodaime Hokage, there must be some kind of information on the clone Jutsu that Naruto seemed to fail.

But although there were books and scrolls about all kind of Jutsus, Jutsus that Naruto would certainly look at in the future, there were none about the E-Rank technique that Naruto had troubles with. Then again, it was an E-Rank technique. And this was made by the Shodaime, after he had become the Hokage. So maybe it wasn't so surprising that the technique wouldn't be here. But Naruto had somehow felt that the answer would come to him here… Naruto was about to give up for the day, when an old scroll caught his eye. It wasn't the fact that it was an old scroll that caught his eye, but because of what was written on the scroll. _Forbidden Jutsu: Shadow Clone_

XXX

After leaving Midori's classroom, Minato and Kushina had gone towards the class of Iruka Umino, where their youngest son was in. They had been joined by Fugaku and Mikoto as well. In the classroom were quite a few people they knew very well, since almost half of them were the respective clan heads of Konoha. Shibi Aburame stood at the back of the classroom in the right corner, his face was covered and he wore sunglasses, so that the only actual feature of his face that was seen was his brown, spiky hair. Next to him stood the current members of the Ino-Shika-Cho-Team. Inoichi Yamanaka, whose blond hair was darker than that of Minato, was kept in a long ponytail that reached over his back. He wore the traditional Shinobi attire. Shikaku Nara, Konoha's Jonin Commander, seemed to be asleep while standing. His dark hair was in a high ponytail, and he had a goatee. Two scars ran across his face. He wore a mesh shirt under his Flak jacket, and a deer skin on top of the jacket. Choza Akimichi, the plump man had long red hair, and purple Markings on his face. He wore a samurai-like outfit. It seemed like all of their wives had stayed at home. The only wife of a clan head, with the exception of Mikoto, was Hitomi, who stood next to her husband. Tsume was still in Hana's classroom, so that made Kushina the only female clan head at the moment. The rest of the parents were either civilians or normal Shinobi.

The four newcomers walked towards the already present parents and waited for the lesson to start again, since the break would soon be over. Hitomi was happily talking to Mikoto and Kushina, who had been the best of friends for years, and Minato was talking with the rest of the clan heads. Fugaku, although very happy about his son showing off in front of everyone, made sure not to mention it in front of Minato. At least not now, since he could see that Minato was still angry. The rest of the clan heads seemed to notice their leader's ire as well, and made sure not to ask questions either.

There was noise coming from the corridor, and just moments later, the door opened and the students came walking in, followed by Iruka. Iruka looked up as he noticed the new arrivals. He bowed his head and smiled, an action mimicked by Mikoto and Kushina. Minato just smiled, and Fugaku gave a stiff nod.

Kei was talking to Sasuke as they entered and looked up towards the back as he noticed his father and mother standing there. He grinned at them and waved. Minato and Kushina both smiled back, Minato finally relaxing his shoulders. Sasuke seemed to be very excited at his parents' presence as well, but he only smiled at them, which resulted in a smile from Mikoto. Fugaku just furrowed his brows at him. The kids all took their seat, and Iruka then once again started the lesson, which seemed to be Geography, since a map was hanging over the blackboard.

After about an hour, Minato nudged Kushina into the side, which resulted in her nodding, and smiling at him. Minato started to walk towards the front. Iruka looked up in surprise, and a nervous look covered his face. Minato smiled at the teacher and stopped when he was next to Kei.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. Unfortunately, I have to take my leave. Thank you very much for taking such good care of our son." Minato said and ruffled Kei's hair affectionately.

"Hey!..." Kei pouted and tried to put some order into his hair again. His classmates chuckled at that.

Iruka relaxed and smiled at him. "Of course. Thank you for taking time to come." Iruka said. He then turned his head towards the students. "All right kids, let's say goodbye Hokage-sama."

"Goodbye, Hokage-sama." Said the class in unison.

"See you later, Otou-san." Said Kei with a grin.

Minato smiled at his son, and then at the class and at the parents. "Have a nice day, and make sure to listen to your teacher." He said and then walked out of the door. He walked into the training ground of the academy, and looked back towards the academy. He could see Naruto through the window. Midori was currently scolding a student, and the class was laughing, but Naruto was silently sitting in his chair, head low.

Minato let go of a breath as he looked at his dejected son. _"Maybe I was I to harsh…"_ He thought and stared at his son for a bit longer. He then turned his head away. " _But he has to get stronger, or he won't survive."_ He finished his musing and disappeared in a flash.

XXX

 **Alright. That's a wrap. How was it?**

 **For those who are wondering about how he could mess up the technique after I had him master it, this is my explanation: So basically, the chakra of every Shinobi grows with his age, depending on how much chakra they have to begin with. They can grow their chakra reserve by training, but it also grows in an exponential factor as they grow. In Naruto's case, his chakra made a great leap when he sealed the Kyuubi inside of him, so his reserve are a lot bigger than for example Itachi's, who's the same age as him. Since it grows exponentially, Naruto's chakra growth will be a lot bigger than that of normal Shinobi. Now the simple Clone Technique uses very little Chakra, and Naruto, all though having great Chakra control, cannot use so little chakra. As for having no trouble with higher ranking techniques, that is because they use more chakra to begin with than the clone Jutsu. Meaning: To use a Jutsu, a Shinobi has to use a certain amount of Chakra, but every Jutsu has a marge of, let's say, 10%. So a Jutsu will still work with 10% more or 10% less chakra than usually. To a Jutsu that uses a lot more chakra, this still leaves a great amount of chakra difference, but to a technique that uses little chakra, it is a lot more difficult to find the right marge. Naruto still has very little experience, and thus isn't able to realise how much his reserves have increased and such, and also because he usually uses Jutsus that require more chakra, he has difficulties with this. Other Shinobi don't realise this, because the growth of their chakra isn't that big, and thus they automatically adapt their chakra amount.**

 **Okay, this is how it is in my story, so don't compare it to the actual Manga/Anime. I don't know how it really works in there for that matter...**

 **And yes, I decided to have medical-first aid added into the curriculum.**

 **Well, hope you liked it.** **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	12. Chapter 12: Plan

**Hey guys,**

 **First of all, Sooooooo Sorry that it took so long. It's been really chaotic and I'm in the middle of my exams. Taking a small break right now… I'm almost done, so it should be getting better…**

 **Thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites and following my story. I think it's the first time I got so many of these :D**

 **Now, please, do enjoy**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 12: Plan

Naruto didn't take long to read through the scroll. He knew that a forbidden Jutsu was forbidden for a reason, and that really, he shouldn't read it. But Naruto had been frustrated. So he had grabbed the scroll and had begun reading every bit of its content. After reading through the instructions, he had started to practice right away, the thought that it could be dangerous, since it was a forbidden Jutsu, was pushed to the back of his mind. After all, a solid clone was way better than a simple illusion. And if he had been surprised that he hadn't been able to do the clone Jutsu in the morning, he certainly was even more surprised that he had managed the shadow-clone Jutsu on his third attempt.

The sun had set about an hour ago, and Naruto was now sitting on the couch, reading through the Scroll of the Shadow-Clone Jutsu once again. Making sure to read the comments made by the Nidaime, the ones he had skipped before, this time as well. It was an interesting Jutsu that much was sure. He was a lot calmer, since he now had a hunch on why he hadn't managed the E-Rank clone Jutsu. The reason the Shadow-Clone Jutsu was forbidden, was because one needed a lot of chakra, and 'no one below Jonin should attempt the Jutsu'. Three exclamation signs had been added at the end of the comment, and it had been underline twice. Probably to try and bring the importance of this across. Naruto let out a nervous laugh, even though he knew that no one was here, he still felt slightly bad about just jumping over instructions that the Nidaime had deemed very important. But then again, Naruto had managed the Jutsu, so it couldn't be that bad. But since the Shadow-Clone was forbidden because of the amount of Chakra necessary, wasn't it possible that Naruto had troubles with the clone Jutsu because the shadow clone came to him so easily? He had hardly used any chakra to make the clone. So maybe he was just using WAY too much chakra for the clone Jutsu? He wasn't sure about his theory. But it could be, in his opinion. The Kyuubi had after all enlarged his chakra coils and the amount of chakra itself. But then there still was the question on why he'd been able to do it before? Even after he had sealed the Kyuubi. Had it something to do with the fact that they hadn't practiced it in the past years? But Itachi had managed…

Naruto scratched his head. Thinking so much made him tired. He looked out of the windows, to see the moon shining brightly outside. It was really late, and under normal circumstances, Naruto should already be back home, but he had no desire to return tonight. No intention of seeing his parents. So he decided to take a closer look at the room. After all, it may hold even more secrets…

XXX

Minato sighed. He was sitting in his living room on the couch, and was drinking a cup of coffee. Not his first that night, and certainly not his last. Naruto still hadn't come home, and it was almost 3a.m. He wasn't at Itachi's and his ANBU's weren't able to find him either. Like he had disappeared form Konoha all together. Hiruzen hadn't seen him either, and Minato was now starting to worry. Kushina had gone to bed about 2 hours ago, after Minato had reminded her about her mission the next day, and that she should be in form for that. While Naruto spent a lot of time outside the house, coming home late also wasn't such a rarity, he had always been back by 11 p.m. at the latest.

He had thought about Naruto's performance all day, and couldn't help but come to the conclusion that he probably really had been too harsh on him. After all, he was only 8 years old. And while he knew that there were Shinobi's who at that age were already on missions, Kakashi being an example, he couldn't help but remind himself of the fact that those people were the grand minority. In fact, there was probably one of them in one generation. So really not something to take reference on. And he had always wanted Naruto, and now of course also Kei, to have a carefree childhood. Advancing at their own pace. But every time he thought of that, he couldn't help but see Akemi in front of him. Reminding him of the attack. The number of causalities. And then his thoughts would drift to Iwa, and the third war. The war were he had become the most hated man to Iwa. Kushina being not far behind on the scale of being hated by them. If Naruto was to become an average Shinobi, he would be killed. Just like Akemi. Just like thousands of others. Of course he knew that being strong didn't mean one would survive longer, after all, he'd be sent on harder missions, but it would raise the chances. Kushina had agreed to that as well. And so he wanted him to be better. Better than everyone.

He rubbed his temple, pushing the thought of his oldest son to the back of his mind for now, and looking down at the message he had received from Kakashi. The Raikage had thrown a slight fit about his Shinobi being captured. Of course, the fact that they had been subdued by two 8 years old kids was kept a secret. But he had then, finally, accepted the Terms Minato had given him. Which was a good thing. Kakashi was now waiting for the Raikage to finish a new agreement, which would, in the future, hopefully lead to an alliance. Of course, this would still take some time, but at least they would be friendlier with each other until then. So Kakashi would probably be back in about two weeks, if things went well. _"At least this seems to be going well…"_ He thought, before getting up from the couch and making himself a new pot of coffee. Waiting for news on his oldest son.

XXX

Naruto was delighted. Absolutely euphoric. He had been looking through the room for the past hours, and had already found 2 more passages deeper into the rock. One was in fact right below the staircase. He hadn't noticed it the last time, since he was standing on it, but there was a seal on the ground, which when activated, extended the staircase even deeper. After walking down, he found himself in a study. A large wooden desk was on one side of the room, which was circular like the one above. A large cupboard was across the room and there were different pictures everywhere in the room. Pictures of family and friends, concluded Naruto. There was a picture of the Shodaime, Nidaime and Sandaime, who was probably in his mid-twenties in the picture, next to the desk. On the desk were different pictures. One was a picture of the Shodaime and a young Tsunade, another picture of the Shodaime and his wife, who, if Naruto recalled correctly, was related to him through his mother. Being an Uzumaki that is. And another one was a picture of the Shodaime and the Nidaime, smiling brightly into the camera. Apparently the Shodaime had used this study as well as the Hokage tower. There were Pens and different utensils on the desk, but everything was covered in dust. Hiruzen had probably not spent his time working here, and neither had the Nidaime, if Naruto guessed correctly.

Attached to the study was a small kitchenette, with actual running water and heater. How the Shodaime had done this was beyond Naruto, but he loved it. Across from the Kitchenette was a door, which led into a large bedroom. There was a King-sized bed and a wardrobe, which was empty though. Nevertheless, it really consolidated his assumption that maybe the Shodaime had been secretly living here, or at least spent a lot of time in here. There was a bathroom with shower in an additional room.

After having inspected the rooms he had made his way back into the room above and had taken a closer look at the bookshelf. After all, if he would hide a secret passage, it would be somehow connected to the bookshelf. And sure enough, after at least an hour of taking out books and looking for something that might lead into yet again another room, he had found it. A blood seal which was behind a book with the title _Konoha's law. Version 1._ Naruto had found it a tad weird that there would be a book on laws, but he didn't think about it twice. He had taken the book out and put it on the glass table. He had then activated the blood seal. There was a clicking sound, and suddenly, a part of the bookshelf moved towards Naruto, producing a door, with a dark passage behind it. Naruto had moved into it without thinking, and had followed the path, until he had arrived into a large room. If one could call it that. It was at least twice the size of a training ground of Konoha. Enlighted by lamps that were hanging all over the space.

This was where Naruto was now standing. "An underground training space!" He shouted out. It had to be, really. There were different dummies, used for Kenjutsu, as well as a large table were all kind of Weapons were laying. Shuriken, Kunais, Katanas of different sizes and weight, as well as tantos and different Bo-staffs.

There were a few trees, how they were surviving underground was unknown to Naruto, and even a pond with a waterfall. Another thing Naruto didn't try to understand. They were underground, but maybe the water came from deeper inside the mountains… Not that it really mattered. The Shodaime surely put a great amount of work into this. Naruto would have stayed there, had he not been interrupted by Daiki, who came up behind him, still seemingly tired. And that was when Naruto noticed the light that was shining through the passage that had before still been engulfed in the darkness of the night. The sun was rising. Naruto cursed. He had to get back and change his clothes, and then he would have to meet Itachi. He was already late.

"Thanks buddy." He said to Daiki and rushed passed him. Daiki right behind him. He closed the bookshelf and ran up the staircase. He went out of the Stone face and started to run through the forest, and then stopped when he arrived at the place that was over his house. He took out a Kunai and thrust it into the ground. Attached a wire to it and held onto it. He then grabbed Daiki and held him tight. Then he jumped. Soaring to the ground, he noticed how uncomfortable Daiki was. Which was only natural. After all, you don't usually jump down a cliff. Even less with your dog under your arm. Before he reached the ground, the wire stopped them. He let go of the wire and fell the last few feet to the ground. Daiki jumped off him and ran towards the house, apparently slightly mad at Naruto, as he wasn't looking at him. Naruto followed him and opened the front door, trying to make as little noise as possible. While he was late, his mother would probably still be in bed. Kei anyway, and his father would most likely be in the office. Naruto closed the door behind him, and tip-toed towards the stairs.

"What makes you think you can stay out all night?" The voice of his father asked from the living room. It made Naruto jump. He hadn't checked the house, but it was still incredible that he hadn't noticed Minato sitting there. He wasn't trying to hide his presence in the least.

"T-Tou-san…" Naruto said and stared at him. To Naruto's surprise he didn't seem angry. He took a deep breath and walked towards him. "Good morning." He said with his head low. Just because Naruto didn't see anger in Minato's eyes, didn't mean that he wasn't angry.

Minato didn't say anything for about a minute, and then he sighed. He put the mug he had in his hands and the pieces of papers he had been reading on the living table, and started to talk.

"Naruto." He started. "Both your mother and I were really worried about you. You don't usually stay out all night."

"I'm sorry…" Naruto said once again. Strangely enough, Naruto still couldn't hear any anger in Minato's voice. He slowly looked up to meet his father's gaze.

Minato stared at Naruto and sighed. "No. I'm sorry." He said, and watched as Naruto's gaze became confused. "You didn't _want_ to come back. Didn't you?"

Naruto didn't say anything and stared to the ground again.

"I was too harsh yesterday at school." Minato said, and Naruto looked up again. "I know that you're not the only one that didn't manage and that it isn't fair of me to pressure you like that." Minato continued. "But I hope you understand that I do this for your own good."

"I know." Naruto answered.

Minato smiled. "Can you tell me where you were all night? Even my ANBU's couldn't find you." Minato said.

"That…" Naruto started uncomfortably. "It's a secret place that Itachi and I found…" Naruto finished.

Minato looked at his son. "Hmmm… Still doesn't explain how my ANBU's couldn't find you."

Naruto kept his head low. "I put up some seals, so that no chakra, sound, or smell reaches outside…" Naruto lied.

Minato looked surprised. "Seals? You're telling me you can do seals?"

Naruto looked into the eyes of his father. "Yes… I started some time ago…" Naruto said.

"How come you never came to us for this? Both your mother and I could have helped you." Minato said.

Naruto squirmed under his father's gaze. "I wanted to learn it on my own…" It wasn't a complete lie. He had started on his own, and just never came to tell them.

Minato smiled proudly. "I see. Well, that is good as well. For you to be able to do those kind of seals, you must already be fairly adept at them." Minato said. "Seals are a great asset to have. Keep working on it."

Naruto grinned, like he hadn't in a long time in front of his father. "Hai, Tou-san. Thank you."

Minato grinned as well. "And what have you been doing all night then?"

Naruto's grin fell. "Trained on the clone Jutsu…" He said, and refused to look at his father once again. They were back to the reason he had refused to come home tonight, and Naruto wasn't happy about it.

"Really. According to your expression, you didn't manage?" Minato inquired.

"No… I just don't get it." Naruto said half truthfully.

"Show me." Minato said.

Naruto looked up again. "What?"

"The Jutsu. Show me again."

Naruto looked uncomfortable, but concentrated on as little chakra as possible, and went through the signs. The clone that appeared looked like the one in the classroom the day before. Simply dead.

Minato looked at the clone and then at Naruto. "You are using too much chakra." Minato stated, confirming Naruto's suspicion.

"But I can't use any less. I'm already using the least amount…" Naruto stated, hoping that his father wouldn't ask too many questions.

Minato looked shocked. "You are? Really… But then… Hmm…" Minato mused, and looked at Naruto carefully. "You know. I think I know why that is." Minato said. "Your mother used to have similar problems in the Academy. Before she sealed the Kyuubi inside of her, that is. Now it could be that you simply have awful chakra control, but since you can produce seals, that is probably not the case. Rather, I believe you simply have more chakra than your peers." Minato stated, and he couldn't help but smile at this.

"That doesn't really help in this case…" Naruto stated.

"True. You probably won't ever be able to do a decent clone Jutsu." Minato said still smiling.

"But how am I supposed to graduate then?" Naruto exclaimed.

"The clone Jutsu isn't the only Jutsu you can use for the exam. You'll have to work hard, but I could teach you a Mizu-Bunshin." Minato stated. "It is a C-Rank Jutsu, bit if you stay on it, you should be able to do it for the graduation." Minato said.

"You'd teach me?" Naruto asked in disbelief. Trying to ignore the fact that Minato thought he would need three years to learn the Jutsu. His father was actually going to teach him! He'd never even inquired about his training, and now he was saying he would teach him himself!

"Well. I can only spare little time for it." He said apologetic. "But if you want, I could teach you the technique, and then you can work on it on your own. I'll come see how you're doing every now and then…" He said. "I'm sure your mother would help you out as well." He added.

Naruto grinned. He knew there was only so much time he could spare on him, and his mother would help him as well. He could jump from happiness. "That would be great. Thanks. Tou-san."

Minato smiled as well. And then he looked up towards the entrance, only for the door to ring a second later.

Naruto sensed for the chakra, and cursed. "Itachi! I forgot. I'm really late." He said, and ran to open the door. Itachi did indeed stand at the doorstep. "Sorry…" Naruto said.

Itachi stared at Naruto, who was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Itachi also noticed some dark shadows under his eyes. "What…?" He started, but then his gaze fixated something, or someone behind Naruto.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama." Itachi said with a bow to Minato, who had just appeared behind Naruto.

"Good morning, Itachi-kun." Minato said with a smile. "I'm sorry for keeping him. We're done though." He said towards the young Uchiha and turned towards Naruto. "Don't come home late tonight. We'll start tomorrow morning." He added, and left in a yellow flash.

"Do you get used to him appearing and disappearing like that?" Itachi asked.

"Not really." Naruto answered.

"So? What happened? You're still wearing the same cloth as yesterday." Itachi said.

"Ah. That's right. Give me a minute. I'll be right back." He said and disappeared upstairs.

XXX

Naruto and Itachi had trained for the rest of the day, until Naruto decided to go see Hiruzen. Naruto had told Itachi that there was something he was keeping from him, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to tell him, so he would have to check with Hiruzen. Although Naruto was rather sure that he could tell Itachi, he still wanted to make sure. Itachi had agreed, and Naruto had promised to come back right after he was done. He'd left Daiki with Itachi, and was now running towards Hiruzen's house. Once there, he knocked excitedly. As Hiruzen opened the door, he was greeted by a grinning Naruto. "Hello Jiji."

"Well hello, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen said with a smile. "Please, do come in." He said and stepped to the side.

Naruto thanked him and followed Hiruzen inside, and towards the couch. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you." Naruto answered with a smile.

Hiruzen nodded and sat down. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, the thing is, I was wondering about the room…" Naruto started.

"Yes? Go on."

"Well… Can I tell Itachi about it? It's just… I feel awful for keeping it from him, and we could both benefit greatly from it, and-"

"Naruto-kun." Hiruzen interrupted him. He smiled at Naruto. "If you wish to tell Itachi, then do so." He said. "If you wish to give him access to the room, then do so as well."

"Just like that?" Naruto asked in disbelieve.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Just like that. The room hold a lot of secrets, and a lot of information, so if too many people know about it, information might be misused. But I trust that both you and Itachi are smart enough to use it in the right way."

Naruto smiled at that. "Great!" He exclaimed and sprung up from his seat. "I better go show him right now then."

Hiruzen chuckled once more. "Well then. Don't let this old man keep you."

"Thanks Jiji. See you later." Naruto exclaimed and ran out of the house, back to the training ground.

"Back already?" Itachi asked as Naruto landed in front of him.

Naruto looked up and grinned. "Come!" He exclaimed and ran out of the forest, towards the stone face. Itachi didn't ask any questions as Naruto led him to the top, making sure no one was following them. As he entered the hideout though, Itachi gasped in shock.

"What?!"

"Nice isn't it?" Naruto asked. He led Itachi inside, Daiki leaving for the couch right away, and then showed Itachi around, while at the same time telling him the story of the phantom. Itachi listened quietly, and only his eyes showed the shock and amazement he was feeling. As Naruto entered the secret passage behind the bookshelf however, Itachi's face turning into one of utter shock.

"What the hell? How is that possible? This is amazing!" He exclaimed.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Itachi's unusual reaction, and smiled.

"Oh shut it." Itachi said with an annoyed glare at his best friend.

Naruto chuckled. "But I didn't say anything."

Itachi just kept on glaring for a few moments, until he sighed, and turned his attention back to the room. "Really amazing. We can train a lot better in here." He said in awe.

"Right? I didn't have a lot of time to look at it last night, 'cause I only found it in the early morning." Naruto said as he too stared at the room. "There might still be more hidden away."

Naruto and Itachi grinned at each other, and then moved over to look through the room once more.

After about an hour, Naruto was sitting on the couch, petting Daiki and reading. Itachi was doing the same on the other couch. They hadn't found any more secret passages yet, and had thus decided to take a break and take a closer look at the bookshelf. Itachi was currently reading a scroll on elemental chakra, and Naruto was reading the book of Konoha's laws, as he had been curious about it. Apparently, The Shodaime himself, together with Madara Uchiha had written it. Most of the laws were still active today. Some were outdated, and some, he never heard off before. Not that Naruto had taken a great interest in laws before.

He suddenly sat up straight in his seat as he read a certain law over again. And again. A grin slowly started to make its way over his face.

Itachi, noticing Naruto's delighted expression, raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask the question in his mind.

Naruto's grin grew wider, and his eyes held a determined glint as he looked at Itachi. "Yo, Itachi. I need your help." He said, and Itachi couldn't help but frown at his expression. Why did he have the strange feeling that life was just about to get more complicated?

Itachi sighed in defeat.

XXX

 **Well, hope you liked it. See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	13. Chapter 13: ANBU

**Hey guys,**

 **Finally. I made it here after so long. I didn't think it would take 12 chapters to work up on this, but now, it is finally time. Hope you like it.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 13: ANBU

Naruto jumped to the side, evading a fire Jutsu just in time. He reached the ground, and pushed himself off with his hands to land on his feet again, and moved right away towards his opponent, pulling out a Katana that was attached to his back. But Itachi was already ready to block it with his own Katana. The two exchanged a few blows, before Naruto landed a hit on Itachi's left shoulder. Blood splurged from the injury, but Itachi did not pay it any mind. He jumped back a few feet and went through a series of Hand signs, and threw a dozen Shuriken at Naruto.

"Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Itachi exclaimed, and the shuriken burst into flames, swirling towards the blond boy.

Naruto cursed. "Damn you and your fire techniques!" He deflected the Shuriken with his Katana, but not being able to deflect all. One cut and burned him on his left arm. Naruto ignored it. Itachi used that moment to approach Naruto once again, Kunai in his hand.

Naruto reacted in an instant, and blocked his attack. Naruto kicked Itachi in the gut, but Itachi grabbed hold of Naruto's foot and threw him back. Naruto landed on his feet and grinned. "Release!" He shouted.

Itachi's eyes widened as black markings appeared on the ground. "Shit!" He cursed, and tried to jump out of the way. But it was too late. He crashed to the ground and stopped moving altogether.

"It worked!" Naruto shouted in delight. "It actually worked!"

He moved towards Itachi with a gleam in his eyes, studying the effect that he had acquired.

"Good for you." Itachi said through gritted teeth. "Why can you move?"

Naruto smiled. "Obviously I have a counter seal. Would be stupid to get caught in my own seal." He said. "You can't move at all?" He asked curiously.

"Barely." Itachi answered.

Naruto nodded to himself. "Very good."

"Can you release me now?" Itachi asked annoyed.

"Ah, but why would I do that, huh 'Tachi." Naruto said with a wicked grin on his face.

"I got to meet with my team in 10 minutes. I'll like to get a feel for my body again before then." Itachi answered.

"Ah, that's right." Naruto said with a small smile. "Have a mission don't you? What is it this time? The cat again? Shall I send Daiki to help you?" Naruto asked with a chuckle.

"Naruto." Itachi growled.

"Bore." Naruto said with a pout and went through a few hand seals before touching the ground.

Itachi stood up and dusted himself off. He then put a hand on his shoulder and started to heal his wound. "So? What kind of seal was it this time?" Itachi asked with furrowed brows.

"You probably noticed already. A gravity seal that spreads over a larger area, immobilising the enemy." Naruto recited with a smile.

"Hmmm… When did you set it up?"

"After I evaded your fire Jutsu, before our Katana clash."

"I'm impressed." Itachi said. "Anyway, I have to go." Itachi said as he noticed the time. "But first, catch."

Naruto caught the small rectangular box from Itachi, and looked at him in confusion.

"Happy birthday." Itachi said with a smile. "I think you were still missing that part for your plan." Itachi added.

Naruto opened the box, and upon seeing the white mask, that had a great similarity to a fox with its orange marks, pointy ears and slit eyes, he grinned at Itachi. "I was really still missing that. Thanks, Itachi."

Itachi nodded in answer, and the two stood there for another few seconds. At ten years old, Naruto was still smaller than Itachi. He stood at 4.4 feet, and Itachi at 4.6 feet. Besides the height, their appearance hadn't changed that much. Itachi was still wearing his Blue Uchiha shirt, along with black pants, while Naruto was wearing black pants, and a black tank top. Although he only wore that outfit when he was in the stone face. As he was against showing that he had grown quite a few muscles. In the past two years, they had both trained very hard, and had become exponentially stronger. Itachi, although reluctantly, had graduated from the academy early. He had been in a Genin team for the past half year. And Naruto had had great fun in teasing Itachi about the missions he had been getting. Naruto, while he could have technically passed the exam with Itachi, didn't want to draw any attention towards himself, and thus stayed in the academy.

"When are you doing it?" Itachi asked as he stood in front of the exit.

Naruto looked up, and looked at Itachi with determination. "At the end of the week."

Itachi nodded. "I'm supposed to be gone for about a week. So, good luck."

Naruto nodded in thanks. "You better be careful, and come back safely." He said.

Itachi nodded and left the room.

Naruto sighed, and sat down on the couch, patting Daiki on the head. "Alright. Let's get to work." He said as he took out his birthday present.

XXX

A dark figure, covered in a large black cloak, jumped over the roofs. His height not yet as tall as a man, yet no child anymore either. A teenager. No sound came from him as he disappeared in an alley, hiding from the incoming ANBUs. They jumped over his head, not noticing his presence. The figure jumped onto the roof again as the ANBUs had disappeared. It made its way towards the Hokage tower, as his target was situated in there. The figure slowly made its way towards the Hokage's office. The tower was deserted, with the exception of his target. He had known it was. That was why he had chosen this precise moment. The figure passed the office of the Hokage. His target wouldn't be in there. He walked further down the corridor, towards a large oak door. Not many knew what was in there. And even less could actually enter. The dark figure slowly pressed a hand to the door. It opened with a slight 'click', and the figure entered into the large training ground. There. In the middle of the room, stood his target, faced away from him. Without wasting a second, he attacked, a Katana suddenly appearing in his hand. The target however, turned around, and with a calm expression on his old face, blocked the attack with a Kunai.

"Do you really think you could take me off guard? Aren't you underestimating me a bit?" Hiruzen asked.

The figure did not respond. Instead, he jumped back, and went through a series of hand seals. He then took a deep breath.

"Futon: Vacuum Blast Barrage" He exclaimed and at the same time exhaled, shooting wind blades at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen however conjured an earth wall, which blocked the attacks.

The cloaked assailant hurriedly went through the next series of hand signs. "Katon: Fireball Jutsu." The figure exhaled a large fireball that hit Hiruzen's earth wall. The wall collapsed, and without waiting for the success of the technique, the figure went through another set of Hand seals. He sent out a bunch of Shuriken. "Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Hundreds of Shuriken flew at rapid speed towards Hiruzen. His eyes widened shortly in surprise, but then proceeded to deflect all of them with his Kunai. He then attacked the figure. Slashing at him with his Kunai, he hit the strangers shoulder, drawing blood. The figure grabbed hold of the Katana again, and the two Shinobi entered a sword battle.

The stranger, losing the sword battle, put some distance between himself and his target. He reached into his pouch, and pulled out Kunais with seals attached to them. He threw them, and went through a set of seals at a fast rate.

Hiruzen furrowed his brows, and evaded the Kunais, expecting them to explode. But as he looked at the seals, his eyes widened at the unknown seal. The Kunai reached the ground, but nothing happened. Hiruzen was concentrating on the seals, that seemed to malfunction, and was caught by surprise by the voice of his assailant.

"Futon: Spiralling Wind Ball." He shouted, and several balls made of wind came flying at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen cursed at his inattentiveness, and evaded three of the four balls, and managed to pull up his Kunai to stop the last, but the force in it pushed him backwards. His feet skidding on the ground. He channelled Chakra into his blade, to keep it from breaking, and then he pushed the ball to the side, where it continued flying towards the wall, breaking a crater into it like the others. Hiruzen looked up to the stranger, to see him perform the Ram-seal.

"Activate." The stranger said calmly.

Hiruzen's eyes widened in surprise once again as he felt Chakra gathering around him. He looked to the side, and noticed with even greater surprise, that he was surrounded by the Kunai previously thrown by the stranger. The seals glowing brightly. Hiruzen, although taken by surprise, caught himself fast again and performed a Kawarimi to escape. A log appearing where he had been. He watched in fascination as the log crushed by an unknown force. But Hiruzen spent only a second wondering about the seal. And proceeded to move at high speed towards the stranger.

Deciding that enough was enough, Hiruzen pushed more force into his steps, accelerating considerably, and appeared behind the stranger. He was surprised to see that the stranger was already half turned to intercept him, but Hiruzen was still faster. Hiruzen threw the stranger to the ground. He landed with a heavy 'thud', and groaned as Hiruzen proceeded to fixate him to the ground with an earth Jutsu.

"So. Why did you attack me? You couldn't have actually thought you could beat me with your abilities?" Hiruzen asked calmly. His breathing calm, like he had been on a comfortable walk.

The stranger, whose face was still covered by a large hood, turned his head towards Hiruzen. "Obviously, I knew I would lose. Although I was hoping to manage a bit longer against you, even when you were holding back. I wasn't able to show you half of what I can do." He said. His deep voice sounding very calm, but slightly laboured. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was fixated on the ground.

"Hmmm… What village are you from? Kumo?" Hiruzen asked with raised eyebrows. "Although I am wondering how you entered…"

"Konoha." The stranger answered calmly.

Hiruzen now looked surprised. "Konoha? Why would a Shinobi from Konoha attack me?" He asked.

"I am no Shinobi. I am a mere Civilian."

"That is a lie. You have to be at least high Chunin." Hiruzen said with a frown.

"It is no lie. But I would like to join Konoha's ranks. In ANBU." The teenager said calmly.

Hiruzen frowned again, and walked over to the teen. He crouched down, and lifted the hood off, only to be face with a white fox mask. Hiruzen stared at the mask, trying to recognise it. He moved to remove the mask, but the stranger suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to be replace by a log. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, and looked up calmly to the stranger that was now standing a few feet from him. He hadn't notice him moulding Chakra, which was impressive.

"If you wish to join ANBU, you have to follow proper protocol. And that would go over Minato-kun, and not me." Hiruzen said, still staring at the mask, not sensing any more threat coming from the stranger.

"No. I wish to invoke my right to join ANBU under Article 12 of Law 73 from the Konoha Laws. The 1st Version." The stranger said. "Which states, that as long as a Hokage, previous or actual, knows my Identity, I am allowed to join the ranks without having to be officially registered under my name, under the conditions that my abilities are high enough, obviously. Additionally, my Identity shall be revealed to one other person of choice. In order to have two people confirm my identity, or in case the one knowing my identity was to pass away, or leave the village. My Identity shall be known only by these people, or whoever we deem trustworthy. The current Hokage, Minato-sama, is allowed to refuse my acceptance into the ranks." The stranger stated, and threw a book at Hiruzen. "As you have probably already guessed, I do not wish the current Hokage to know about my identity." He said and watched as Hiruzen read through the mentioned article.

He frowned as he looked up. "There are exactly two places where this book can be found. One would be in the private library in the Hokage tower that is constantly being watched by ANBUs, whose abilities surpasses yours. You could hardly have gotten it from there. The other place in in a way even more sheltered and protected, as its location is only known by three people in this village. One being myself. The other two would hardly show enough interest to bring this kind of book outside. So the question remains. Where is this from?" He asked, and his voice sounded threatening for the first time.

"Unfortunately, you are mistaken." The stranger said and reached for his mask. "I actually do show enough interest in this kind of book. Although I do agree, that I probably don't give off that impression." The mask was removed from his face, and suddenly, his body shrank. His black hair started to shine in a wonderful blonde, and his brown eyes, turned a vibrant blue. The teenager that had just been standing in front of Hiruzen, had turned into one Naruto Namikaze.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked with wide eyes. He'd been keeping his senses on his chakra all the time, trying to recognise it, but he hadn't. And now, suddenly, Naruto's chakra was felt clearly. "What? How?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry for attacking you, Jiji. But had I come like this, you wouldn't have taken me seriously." He said, now with his own voice.

"But… Why?"

"I want to… No. I need to enter ANBU." Naruto said seriously.

"That is crazy, Naruto. You are only ten. And ANBU of all places."

"But you said yourself. I am at least high Chunin-level." Naruto stated. "I can manage being in ANBU."

"That's not the point. I won't allow it. And why behind your father's back anyway?"

Naruto took a deep breath. He'd decided after a long time that it was the best to do this, but he was still scared. What if Hiruzen didn't understand? What if he told his father? He bit his lip. "Can you promise me that you will listen to the end? It's quite the long story." He said and looked directly into Hiruzen's eyes.

Hiruzen, caught off guard by Naruto's sudden seriousness, only nodded.

And so Naruto told him. He told him about the Kyuubi, Akatsuki, and his reasons. He told him everything.

XXX

Naruto stared at Hiruzen with nervousness radiating from him. Hiruzen had tried a lot of times to interrupt Naruto in his story, but Naruto had always been able to silence him. The only time where Hiruzen had thrown a fit, was after Naruto told he'd sealed the Kyuubi in himself. He'd been disbelieving, surprised, angry and worried. Something Naruto had expected from his grandfather figure. Naruto had had to go over the sealing over and over again before Hiruzen had believed him. He'd even shown him the seal that Hiruzen had examined very carefully. Now that he was done, Hiruzen was quiet. He hadn't said a word, and had only stared at Naruto with an expressionless face. And it was driving Naruto insane. "Jiji?" He finally tried.

Hiruzen, brought out of his musing, blinked a few times. He let go of a deep breath, and rubbed his temple. "I… I understand your reasoning. To a certain extent." He added as he saw Naruto's hopeful look. "I understand that the less people know about your… status, the less likely it is for Akatsuki to find you. And I understand that being in ANBU will help this more than you being a normal shinobi. Since their identity is secret. Even more so if you enter anonymously." He continued. "But why are you so against Minato knowing? While he wouldn't agree to you entering ANBU right now, he would surely help you come to another solution. In a few years, he would let you enter. He wouldn't have to register you. He would keep quiet." He said.

Naruto bit his lip. "I know that. But… He's the Hokage. If people expect someone to know something, it will be the Hokage. He will be the first place people look to find me, because he'd be supposed to know, being the Hokage." Naruto said. "That, and… I don't want him to know. I don't want him to know that I sealed the Kyuubi in me. I don't want him to know that I'm stronger than he believes… Please understand, I… In front of him, I just want to be Naruto. Not the Jinjuriki, not the kid that could enter ANBU. Just me."

"But isn't that part of you as well?" Hiruzen asked calmly.

"Well… Yes… But…" Naruto sighed, and went with a hand through his hair. "I… He is bound to be… proud… I guess, if he finds out that I'm so far along. But I don't want him to be proud because of that. But just because I'm being Naruto. His son. I want him to be proud no matter what I do… Does that make sense?" Naruto asked with a wry smile.

Hiruzen nodded slowly. "It does… And I understand that, but-"

"Please." Naruto pleaded. "I can't have him know."

Hiruzen stared at Naruto for a long time, before he sighed. "Alright. I won't tell." He said. "But I'm still not sure about you entering ANBU. You are only ten. You are no official Shinobi and you have no experience of missions. And I don't want you to face dangers so soon… And let's not even start about the emotional stain it will have on you. ANBU is not for the faint of heart. ANBU is… ANBU is a place of darkness. It will change you."

"I… I know that, once in ANBU, I will kill. Over and over again. And I might see things that I shouldn't, as a child. I know that. I talked a long time with Itachi over it. But, I won't be able to join ANBU as Naruto. I won't be able to rise in the ranks as someone that can enter ANBU, because I would raise attention. But I want to protect the village. The villagers. My family." Naruto pleaded. "I know that you don't want to let me face it, and if I could do this without putting you in this position, I would. But you are the only one that I can count on right now. And I also know that I could enter ANBU in a few years, when I'm older, when I've become a genin, or Chunin, as Naruto. But the sooner I start to gain experience, the better. Waiting any longer is only a waste of time and resource. I know that it's crazy, dangerous, and reckless. But it's what I want to do. Please. Let me fight."

Hiruzen once again stared at Naruto. The young boy in front of him, seemed so much older than the ten years he actually was. He held determination in his eyes. Determination he had seen in the face of every Shinobi that was fighting for the village. And he didn't like it. Hiruzen bit his lip. If Minato ever found out about this, he would probably never forgive him. "Very well. I will allow you to enter ANBU. Under certain conditions though." He said finally.

Naruto's face brightened. "Anything!"

Hiruzen smiled at him. "Good. But first. Thank you." Hiruzen smiled and bowed his head towards Naruto. To which Naruto blushed a deep scarlet. "For protecting the village, for protecting your father. For taking on such a burden, and sealing the Kyuubi in you. While I am still astonished that you managed to do it, I am glad, knowing what happened that day, and knowing that you are safe."

XXX

Naruto, once again in his disguise of a teenager, walked next to Hiruzen through the Hokage tower. It had been two days since Naruto had told Hiruzen about him, and during that time, Hiruzen and Naruto had gone over every detail concerning Naruto's stay in ANBU. Hiruzen had insisted that Tsunade was to be notified, and Naruto had agreed wholeheartedly. She had been getting more and more suspicious about him, and she would be able to help him with his health checks, as he was aware that sometimes he wouldn't be getting out unscratched from missions. So including Itachi, three people would know about his identity. Additionally, Hiruzen had spent those days testing Naruto's strength more thoroughly. And he had been impressed by Naruto's abilities.

They now stood in front of the office door. Naruto was nervous. His relationship with both his parents had slightly deteriorated over the last year and a half. Especially since Kei had reached the top of his class, closely followed by Sasuke. They didn't hate Naruto. He knew that. He knew they cared about him, that they loved him, but it was like every time he was around, there was an air of disappointment around them. And Naruto spent only little time at home since then. Usually he went out in the morning, and came back late in the evening. There were the instances when Minato or Kushina would take time to help Naruto out with his training, but they were still few. Kushina had spent more time training with him than Minato had. Minato, after teaching Naruto the Mizu-Bushin, which Naruto managed the day later, without Minato knowing that is, had since only taught him two more Jutsu, both D-Ranks. Meanwhile Kushina had taken to work with him on seals as well as swordsmanship. The moment she'd found out that Naruto had a knack for seals, was still stuck in his memory, as it was one of the few times she had looked at him with absolute pride. When it came to swordsmanship, Naruto had learned a lot, and was meanwhile better at it than even Itachi, who had always beat him at it before his training with his mother. And even though while training with his mother, he was mostly concentrating on her stance and steps, that he wasn't able to show any true skills, Kushina had not stopped helping him. Something he was thankful for.

Hiruzen opened the door and entered. Naruto followed closely.

Minato, who was sitting at his desk, writing on a piece of paper, looked up. "Hiruzen. Good evening." Minato said with a smile. As he glanced at Naruto though, he furrowed his eyebrows. Naruto stiffened unconsciously. Minato stared at him a bit longer. "And who are you?" Minato asked. "I do not recognise you." Minato said. "And ANBU masks are reserved for ANBUs. You are not one of them." He added slightly apprehensively.

"Before that, may the ANBUs please leave the room?" Hiruzen asked.

Minato looked surprised at this, but gave a sign with his hand. And although Naruto couldn't tell if they had really left, Minato gave a slight nod in confirmation. And so, Naruto crouched down. "My name is Kitsune, Hokage-sama. I am here to apply for a place in ANBU." He added.

"Take off your mask and we may talk about that. Are you a Chunin?" He asked and tilted his head to the side in concentration.

Kitsune glanced at Hiruzen. "Actually, Minato-kun. Kitsune wishes to enter ANBU anonymously." Hiruzen stated. He pulled out the first version on Konoha laws, and walked over to hand it to Minato. "Article 12 of Law 73." Hiruzen said, and both he and Kitsune watched as Minato turned to that page and read through it. He then looked up again.

"And may I inquire as to why you wish to enter ANBU this way?"

"Different reasons, sir. I am no Shinobi. Just a civilian. I do not wish my parents to know I entered ANBU. They would realise it were I to enter normally." Kitsune stated.

"A civilian!" Minato exclaimed. "How could I allow a civilian to enter ANBU? And someone so young as well."

"He is highly skilled, Minato-kun. Were it not for his lack of experience, I would say he were to be of rank low Jonin." Hiruzen said.

Minato stared at Kitsune with wonder in his eyes that then turned to confusion. "Well, it doesn't really matter if you enter this way, but, why would you refuse to reveal your identity to me then? When you showed Hiruzen." Strangely there was no anger or annoyance at this fact, just pure curiosity.

Kitsune exchanged a glance with Hiruzen, and then turned to look at Minato once more. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama." Naruto started. "But there are personal reasons that I refuse to divulge."

"Personal reasons?" Minato asked and looked over at Hiruzen.

"I know of those reasons. I and Tsunade are to know his identity. He can be trusted." Hiruzen said. Both had decided that the fact that Itachi knew of his identity as well would be kept secret for the time being.

Minato stared for a moment, and then leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at Kitsune. "Very well. If you say he can be trusted, so be it." He said towards Hiruzen, and then turned towards Kitsune once more. "I shall allow you to enter ANBU, Kitsune. Although, may I ask why you chose that name? It seems to be a weird choice."

"I… I lost someone during the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune… That, and… My life has changed a great deal since then."

"I see… Very well. I have no objection against that. It's a code name that has not been taken yet." Minato said and nodded. He turned towards Hiruzen. "He has yet to receive a headband, right?"

Hiruzen nodded. "I vouch on him being skilled enough to receive it." Hiruzen stated. Being a previous Hokage, his word was good enough.

Minato nodded again, and then proceeded to pull forward a few papers from his desk, and started writing a few things on it. He then grabbed into one of his drawers, and threw a headband at Kitsune. "Kitsune, I officially promote you to ANBU."

Kitsune caught the headband, and let go of a deep breath as he looked at it. He then bowed towards Minato. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Suddenly, an ANBU appeared from the shadows. "You called, Hokage-sama?" Asked the ANBU who was wearing a bat mask.

Kitsune looked at the Bat-masked ANBU. He hadn't changed that much in the past years. His short, spiky black hair was the same shade as 5 years ago, and the blue eyes that shone brightly through the mask as well. He remembered clearly the day Koumori had brought him back to his house, to hear the news of his deceased sister.

"Koumori." Minato looked at him. "This is Kitsune. He'll be joining ANBU starting today. Your team. He's joining under special regulations, so his identity is kept a secret." Minato started. "He has no experience of missions at all, so take care of him."

"No experience, sir?" Koumori asked, and Kitsune was sure that he looked displeased under his mask.

"Indeed." Minato said.

"Forgive my saying this, Hokage-sama, but is that really smart? He'll get killed in less than a week." He said.

Kitsune straightened in his position, feeling slightly insulted.

"That is why I want you to take him in your team. You're in need of a new team member anyway." Minato added in a softer voice.

"Kuma was a first rate Shinobi." Koumori said.

"I am perfectly aware of that. But nonetheless, you need a new teammate. I want your team ready for missions in a month." Minato said, but his tone of voice said that the discussion was over.

Koumori, although reluctantly, nodded. "I understand, Hokage-sama." He said, and then turned to Kitsune. "Get moving." He said and disappeared in a Shunshin.

"Hokage-sama, Hiruzen-sama, thank you." He said as he gave a short bow and then followed in a Shunshin after Koumori.

Koumori didn't advance at a fast rate, probably waiting for Kitsune. And thus, he caught up to him rather fast. As soon as Kitsune arrived at Koumori's position though, Koumori moved faster ahead, pushing him to his limits. They moved fast towards the outskirts of the village, and arriving at the entrance of the forest, they stopped.

"You'll need to up your speed." He said as he glanced over his shoulder at Kitsune. "Come. We'll get you your tattoo." He said.

"Isn't the Hokage supposed to give me the tattoo?" Kitsune asked with curiosity. He'd been a bit surprised when he had to follow Koumori before getting the tattoo. After all, wasn't that the mean for him to be called by the Hokage at any time?

Koumori scoffed. "Don't think of yourself as so special, kid. Hokage-sama is only adding another touch to the tattoo when your rank is high enough for him to call you. He doesn't call on low rank ANBUs. He calls only upon squad leaders and captains." He said, and feeling the confusion radiating from Kitsune, he elaborated. "There is the Head of ANBU, and under him are five captains for different fields. Search and Rescue, Assassination, Torture and Interrogation, Tracking and Surveillance, and Field Operations." He continued. "Under each Captain are different squads, with each one squad leader. I am a squad leader of Field Operations." He said, and Kitsune could hear the pride in his voice.

"What exactly do you mean with Field Operations?"

"Every Mission that doesn't fall directly under the categories I just mentioned."

"Directly?"

"Meaning, sometimes different fields are used together, like surveillance and assassination. It is the field that is holding the most diverse Shinobi. We do all sort of missions. We are trained in all above mentioned fields."

"I see…"

Suddenly, Koumori stopped, and Kitsune looked up towards a large building. He hadn't realised they already arrived. The building gave off a weird, threatening feeling.

"Welcome to Headquarters." Koumori said and walked up towards the front door closely followed by Kitsune.

He opened the door, and Kitsune gasped at the sight. He had expected to see gloomy ANBUs, training, fighting, and if there wasn't, the place to be mostly deserted, the ANBUs being on missions. But he hadn't expected there to be a living room upon entering. Couches, cupboards, tables, and a large kitchen was present. There were few ANBUs present that were seated on the couch, playing a game of card. They looked up for a moment, before returning their attention to their game. He was surprised to see that they had opted against wearing their masks, and were fully displaying their identity. He didn't recognise a single one of them though. Kitsune only noticed that he had stopped in his tracks to stare as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"A new guy?" Asked a familiar voice behind him.

"Inu-Taichou!" Koumori exclaimed, and gave a small bow towards the dog-masked ANBU behind them.

Kitsune recognised the figure and the hair right away, even though he'd already recognised his voice. He was surprised to hear that Kakashi was a captain, he was only 22 years old after all.

Kitsune gave a small bow as well. "My name is Kitsune, Inu-Taichou. I was assigned to ANBU today." He said, hoping that his brother-figure wouldn't recognise him. Although his father hadn't recognised him either, Kakashi knew more about him than his parents.

"Hmm…" He then took of his mask. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. Codename Inu. I'm the Captain for field operations, so we'll be working together. What is your rank? Chunin?" Kakashi asked. "You look fairly young. Oh, and we're rather open in Headquarters. You can reveal your identity." He added with a smile that was only visible through his eye.

"He's entered under special regulations, Taichou. His identity is to be kept a secret. He has no experience in missions. No idea what Hokage-sama is thinking. And Hiruzen-sama seemed to accept this as well." Koumori interjected.

"No experience? And special regulations you say, huh…" Kakashi looked over at Kitsune and furrowed his brows. Kitsune was sure that he was going to talk to his father about this, but ignore it for the moment. "Well, I'm sure Hokage-sama has his reasons. Did he say which squad he was to join?" He asked Koumori.

"Yes, sir. He is to join my team."

Kitsune couldn't help but hear the bitterness in his voice as he said that, and looked at Kakashi again.

"Well, I'll leave it to you then to show him the ropes then." Kakashi said and walked away once more, leaving Koumori to lead Kitsune past the living room into a corridor.

They walked through one corridor after the other, and Kitsune had troubles remembering the way. As Koumori stopped in front of a large wooden door, Kitsune grew nervous. Koumori knocked, and when they heard the invite to come in, Naruto swallowed, and followed Koumori inside.

"Good evening, Commander." Koumori said, and bowed as he entered the room.

Kitsune followed his lead and bowed. Commander. This must be the head of ANBU then.

"Koumori. Is that the new guy?" The commander asked.

Kitsune then looked up. The man was not wearing a mask, and was staring intently at Kitsune. He stiffened unconsciously as he stared at the imposing figure. His head was covered by a cloth and the Konoha headband was displayed on his forehead. His face was covered in scars.

"This is Kitsune, Commander."

"Hokage-sama notified me." He said with a nod. "Get over here." He said towards the new ANBU.

Kitsune moved forward.

"I am Morino Ibiki. ANBU-Commander." He said. He then reached behind him, and let a carton fall in Kitsune's arms. "This is your stuff." He said. He then went through a series of hand seals, and clapped it on Kitsune's arm. Kitsune had to bite down to not cringe in pain as he felt his arm as if being on fire. It stopped as abruptly as it had started, and Kitsune was sure that if he was to look at his arm, there would be the tattoo that marked him an ANBU.

XXX

 **Alright. He's finally entered ANBU. I hope you weren't expecting anything to extravagant concerning his entrance into ANBU, but I felt that since Minato isn't allowed to know, someone else has to. And who better than the previous Hokage. So yeah, I invented a law that let Naruto enter ANBU without too much troubles. By the way, I think this is my longest chapter yet. ^^**

 **Oh, and I finally updated my previous chapters. Nothing has changed to the story obviously. Just corrected a lot of spelling mistakes or wrong words/names and stuff. Probably still not perfect, but it's a start.**

 **Now, for a bit of information. I'll use Kitsune when Naruto is wearing his mask, and Naruto when he is being Naruto.**

 **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	14. Chapter 14: Team

**Hey guys,**

 **Next chapter is out ^^ finally. Sorry for the long wait again.**

 **Thanks a lot for the Reviews, favourites and followers.**

 **For those interested, I passed my exams :D Thankfully that's over. And I am now in Japan. For the next six month ^^**

 **But I still got Jet Lag…**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 14: Team

Minato looked at the passage in the book that allowed Kitsune's entrance once again, before looking up at Hiruzen. "I trust you. You know that. That is why I allowed him to join ANBU. But I am curious as to how he came across this law. Last time I checked, we only have one version of this book. And he certainly doesn't have access to the library." Minato stated with a frown. "Also. How could a civilian gain the strength of a Chunin on his own?"

Hiruzen sighed. "I have no idea how he became so strong. I'll look into it. About the law… Well, he came to me, asking to join ANBU, telling me he didn't want to enter the academy, or even be known as a shinobi. He said, his family shouldn't know. And that he didn't want you to know either. And I remembered that Tobirama-Sensei once let someone unknown to him enter ANBU. Shodaime-sama vouched for that person, and Sensei allowed him to enter, as you did now. And later it came out that it was Sensei's girlfriend from that time, who wanted to stay close to him." Hiruzen said with a smile. "Sensei had been against her entering ANBU, because he felt it was too dangerous for her. But she was an excellent Shinobi, and had actually been the reason why the Shodaime made this law. The book was made over the years Shodaime-sama was Hokage, and so right before he gave his position to his brother, she went to see Shodaime-sama. She was smart, and asked him to help her. So he did." Hiruzen then chuckled. "I remember Sensei's face when he found out that the ANBU that had saved his life twice was actually his girlfriend. And that his brother had used Konoha's law for her." Hiruzen then became serious again. "Back then, Hashirama-sama knew that Sensei wouldn't let her enter ANBU. Not because she wasn't skilled enough, but because she was precious to him. This time as well, would you know who it was, I don't think you would have allowed him to enter. So I helped him." Hiruzen stated and looked at Minato's face.

Minato stayed relatively calm as he crossed his hands in front of him on the desk, but he looked at Hiruzen angrily. "So you tricked me into letting him enter? Because you knew I wouldn't let him enter?" There was a small threat in his voice as he said that.

Hiruzen stayed calm as he continued watching Minato. "Exactly. Didn't you listen to the story? Because you know his family, you wouldn't, under normal circumstances, let him enter. Not because he lacks skills. I did this for both your good, his good, and the good of the village."

Minato still stared at him, but the threat had disappeared.

"He is skilled enough. And I, was I to think about him and his family, I wouldn't want him to enter either. But that is not how the world of Shinobi works. As leaders of this village, we have to look past the family, and the person that we do not wish to get hurt. Like every time you send Kushina on a mission."

After a moment, Minato sighed in defeat. "So basically, because I would have let my personal feelings get in the way, you allowed it? I can't think of anyone that would put me in that position though." Minato said and furrowed his brow in concentration.

"Do not try to find out about him. And I'm saying this because he is a civilian, and because he is so young. You won't find out anyway." Hiruzen said. "And because he didn't want you to know." He added.

Minato sighed again. "All right. Fine. Let's leave it at that. You alright with that, Kakashi?"

With no noise, Kakashi, whose mask was moved to the side of his head, appeared before Minato in a crouch. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was simply also worried about Kitsune." He said, head low.

Minato waved it off. "Had I been against you listening in, I would have sent you out." He said with a smile to his student.

Kakashi raised from his position and bowed once to Minato. "Yes, Sensei."

"Now, since both of you are already here, there is something I want to discuss with you."

The two man looked at Minato curiously, when he motioned for a scroll in his hand.

"Kumo is sending an envoy that is to arrive in a month. This time, let's hope for an alliance."

XXX

After visiting Ibiki, Koumori lead Kitsune once again down the corridor, showing him around. Headquarters was mostly made out of training grounds, but there were also different resting areas. Mostly really dull, Kitsune thought. It was all very dark, and ominous.

"This is our changing room." He said as they arrived in front of a wooden door. _Field Operation – Squad 2_ was written on the door. Koumori opened the door and walked inside. "Attention." He called out, and the three ANBUs in the room stood up from their position to stand in line in front of Koumori. "This is our new teammate, Kitsune. His identity is secret, so he won't take of his mask." He said, but proceeded to take of his own mask, and looked at Kitsune.

Kitsune looked at the man, but didn't recognise him. He seemed to be in his thirties, and he had a scar on his cheek, but besides that, he didn't have any notable features.

"My name is Takuya Sato." He then motioned for the ANBU that was standing to the left of him.

The ANBU took of his mask, to reveal a young man in his twenties. He was rather bulky compared to Takuya. He had short grey hair, and green eyes. He stared at Kitsune with a curious expression. "Akira Azuki. Codename Tora (Tiger)" He said.

The ANBU next to him followed suit, and revealed a woman, probably around her thirties. She had long brown hair that she had braided in her back, and brown eyes. "Riku Yamada. Codename Fukuro (Owl)." She said and smiled kindly at Kitsune.

Kitsune turned to look at the last ANBU, and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw who it was. His black hair was the same shade as the rest of his clan, and his black eyes were just as alike. He'd known this teenager for years. "Shisui Uchiha. Codename Karasu (Crow)." He said.

Kitsune stared at Shisui for a bit longer, before coming out of his trance. "Kitsune. Let's get along." He said with a small bow.

"Now that introductions are made, let's get some training done. We have to get ready for missions in a month." Takuya said. "Kitsune, your locker is the one in the left back corner." He said, and Kitsune walked passed him towards the locker. He proceeded to change, not caring about the people in the room. Apparently, they didn't care either, as they kept talking.

"We hardly need a month to get ready. He only needs to get used to the formations." Shisui said.

"Not quite. His level is unknown and he has no experience in missions, according to Hokage-sama."

At this statement, Kitsune felt all eyes turn towards him. He tried to ignore it, and quickly finished changing by strapping his new ANBU sword to his back.

"Never been on missions? How is that possible? And why do we get someone inexperienced after someone like Kuma?" Akira asked.

"Hokage-sama's orders. Keep quiet about it." Takuya answered. "Kitsune. Ready?"

"Hai." Kitsune said and the team then walked out.

"Are you allowed to tell us your age?" Asked Shisui kindly. "You seem to be around my age. I'm sixteen. Been in ANBU for the past 2 years." He said.

"I can't tell you exactly, since that would make it more obvious, but I am around your age, Uchiha-san." Well, around six years youngers. He added mentally.

Shisui chuckled at this. "Please. Call me Shisui." He said with a smile.

Kitsune nodded. "Very well. Then Shisui-san. Shisui." Kitsune corrected after seeing Shisuis glare.

"That's better. Ah, we're here."

Kitsune looked up to see them exiting the building to enter a large training field surrounded by forest. There was a shield with number 4 as they entered the ground. Kitsune concluded that they would probably be more grounds outside as well. He looked around, taking in the sight.

"Alright. Start." Koumori said, and Kitsune wondered for a short second what they were supposed to start with, when a Kunai missed his head only because he'd had the reflex to dodge.

Kitsune looked up to see that his teammates had surrounded him, masks on, and were in a combat stance. He swallowed. A test. It had been in his expectations, but he hadn't expected them to be so serious about it. When he and Itachi spared, they always made sure to not target any lethal points, but just enough to render the other immobile. But this… Had he not dodged, he would be dead. He took a deep breath. He was in ANBU now. It was kill or be killed. Even when training.

Kitsune's train of thoughts took no more than a second, and so to everyone watching, it looked like the moment he'd dodged the attack, he was ready to fight back. And that was what he did. He charged right at Akira, who had thrown the Kunai, and pulled his sword out to slash at him. Akira deflected easily and with a strength Kitsune didn't think he'd have, threw Kitsune right towards Riku. Kitsune turned in mid-air, and threw a barrage of Kunai with exploding tags at Riku. The moment they were in Rikus vicinity, he made them explode. He saw Riku go through a Kawarimi, and smirked under his mask. He fell right into the explosion, and into the smoke.

"What a stupid move." Said Akira as he watched Kitsune jump into his own explosion.

Shisui watched in silence as the smoke disappeared slowly. He watched as Kitsune appeared before him without a scratch, walking slowly out of the smoke.

Kitsune charged once more, but this time at Shisui. Shisui was taken aback for a second at this newfound speed, but dismissed it right away to engage in a Taijutsu battle against his new teammate. He had less strength and less speed than Shisui, but his attacks didn't have an order at all, and even with his Sharingan, he had troubles figuring out what attack came next. But Shisuis higher experience gave him the edge. Kitsune wasn't able to land a single hit. Or so Shisui thought. He noticed how he slowly lost his speed, even though he wasn't tired at all. And Kitsune's only contact with him was when he attacked his arms and legs. But he hardly felt any pressure from the hits. It was like they were dancing. Kitsune touched his arm again, and Shisui felt a muscle twitch at the contact. His eyes widened in surprise, and he concentrated his Sharingan on Kitsune's hands, instead of his posture. And then he noticed it. Every time Kitsune hit him, he channelled Chakra into Shisuis muscles, tiring them. Shisui cursed inwardly. He was good. Because Takuya had said that he didn't have any experience, Shisui had immediately underestimated him. Even though Kitsune might not have any experience in missions, he knew how to fight. And what surprised him, he knew how to fight the Sharingan.

Suddenly, Kitsune put distance between himself and Shisui, and started deflecting shuriken thrown by Riku. He jumped back once more to evade the slash of the Katana from Akira. Akira was definitely stronger than him. Engaging in a sword fight against him would be his loss. He went through a series of Hand seals.

"Doton: Earth Spikes." Kitsune shouted, and watched as Akira conjured an earth wall, protecting him against the spikes.

He quickly went through another set of hand seals, inhaled and shot out pressured wind bullets at Riku and Shisui, who both evaded them. Shisui sent a large fireball at Kitsune, that he managed to evade thanks to a Kawarimi. But before he could go through another Jutsu, his eyes widened in surprise as he felt a presence behind him. He tried to turn around, but the Kunai at his throat stopped him from moving any more.

"Over." Riku said behind him.

"Yes, indeed." Kitsune said and threw a smoke bomb to the ground.

"That doesn't change anything." Riku said. "I won't let you go just because I can't-" Riku stopped in mid-sentence as she felt metal on her throat. "What? How?"

"Like you said. It's over." Kitsune said, and waited for the smoke screen to disappear.

Shisui, Akira and Takuya watched in astonishment, as Riku held a Kunai at Kitsune's throat, while another Kitsune held one to Rikus throat. Suddenly, the Kitsune that was being held hostage by Riku disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Riku as the only hostage. Kitsune slowly released her and took a step back. He then turned to look at Takuya. "Did I pass?" He asked calmly.

Takuya looked at Kitsune thoroughly. "When did you make a shadow clone?"

"While I was covered in smoke from the explosion I caused."

Takuya's eyes widened in surprise. "A Shadow clone was fighting all along?"

Kitsune nodded. "I needed to know your strengths." Kitsune stated calmly.

"Hmmm…" Said Takuya.

"And why couldn't I sense your Chakra?" Riku asked. "I didn't feel you coming up behind me at all."

Kitsune pulled out a sealing tag. "I have a friend that is quite adept at making seals. This one makes my Chakra untraceable for a short period." He said. Of course, the seal had been made by himself, but he would keep this a secret for now.

"Hmm. You must be quite full of yourself, beating us." Akira said.

Kitsune sighed. "Not at all. I am fully aware that you've all been holding back on me. Shisui didn't attack me, just blocked. And during out sword spar, you could have killed me dozen times, with all of my openings. And you are all still wearing your weights and gravity seals. I'm definitely the weakest." He finished with another sigh.

His teammates stared at him in astonishment. "You noticed?" Asked Riku. At Kitsune's questioning tilt of the head, she elaborated. "That we were holding back on you."

"If that was the level of an ANBU team, Konoha would be in trouble. You were testing me. I knew that right away."

"How did you know about the gravity seals? Our weights can be seen, but the seals are hidden." Akira stated.

Kitsune hesitated. "I'm a sensor. I could feel the chakra flow into the seal." He said.

"A sensor. That's a good addition." Shisui said. "Where did you learn to attack the muscles?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

Riku, who saw that, walked over and took his arm. "He attacked you muscles?" She murmured to herself. "That's not bad. But there's hardly any damage. You'd only be slightly slower." She said, and put her palm on his arm, which started to glow green.

"You're the medic then." Kitsune stated. Shisui still stared at him, waiting for his answer, so he turned towards him. "I took to learn the Anatomy of the body by heart, and thought attacking muscles wouldn't be such a bad idea." Kitsune shrugged.

"But you hardly did any damage." Riku repeated.

"If I do it too fast, anyone would notice right away. I was hoping to distract his Sharingan for long enough, but he noticed too fast."

"You know how to fight the Sharingan?" Shisui asked.

"Yeah… Well… You know Uchiha Itachi?" Kitsune asked.

"Obviously." Shisui stated.

"He's a friend." Kitsune said. Trying to hide this fact would be difficult for the future, and Itachi already knew that he would reveal their friendship. They had discussed it. "We spar sometimes."

"Hmmm…" Shisui stated.

"Alright. Enough questioning for now. Guys, what do you think?" Takuya asked.

"You said he was inexperienced in missions. I made the mistake thinking he was inexperienced fighting as well. He's good. Has an unpredictable side to him. He's still too slow to keep up, and his strength is also lacking a bit, but he makes up for it with tactics." Shisui started.

"Agreed. His sword fighting is pretty good. Better than Rikus, if I may say, but still not up to par with the three of us. Like he said. A lot of openings. We haven't seen much of his Jutsus but the earth spikes had quite a force behind them. I'm guessing he has a lot of chakra." Akira continued.

"And he's a sensor, with the ability to fight against the Sharingan. Not that that is needed outside of Konoha. He's smart, and has good observation skills. The fact that he had a Clone fight us also means that he hasn't shown us his full strength. I think we can work with that." Riku finished.

Takuya nodded. "I agree with your analysis. To be honest, I expected you to lose in seconds." Takuya said seriously towards Kitsune, who simply stood there rigidly. "You're not half bad." He added with a smile as he took off his mask. "From what I've seen, I would say that with a bit more experience fighting different opponents, you'll be Jonin level very soon."

Kitsune smiled under his mask. "Thank you."

"Alright. Let's get over the formations and signs. You'll need to learn the signs by the end of the week. So once you saw them a few times, we'll communicate only with them. It will make it easier for you to get used to." Takuya said.

XXX

Naruto collapsed on his bed in exhaustion. He was used to training all day, but the training with ANBU was pure hell. He'd been there for almost 3 weeks now, and there hadn't been a day when he was able to return and not fall asleep right away. In addition to the ANBU training, the Shadow clone that went to school for him, and usually made sure to appear in the village every now and then, used the time until the real Naruto exchanged places with him by training Jutsus, Chakra Control, Fuinjutsu and what not in the stone head, together with a few hundred clones more. He had started to put many shadow clones to work about 2 weeks ago, and the exhaustion he got from them in addition had made him collapse more than once.

Now Naruto trained usually hard with Itachi, that he was aware off. They usually hardly ever took breaks, and fought a lot, to gain experience. But with the ANBU, the pace was just a lot faster. Naruto usually had hardly time to think about his next steps. None of his teammates had Itachi's fighting style. Shisui being the closest to it, but still different, and Naruto started to realise that he had grown accustomed to Itachi.

Akira was all about strength. His punches could throw Naruto across the field and leave a mark in the rock. And he was an excellent sword fighter. He wasn't as fast as Shisui, but he had an almost perfect defence, according to Naruto at least.

Riku was the weakest in physical strength, and also slower than Shisui, but was incredible smart. Being the medic of the team, she was the support fighter, and she excelled in long-range Jutsus and poisons.

Shisui was the fastest of the group. His favourite Jutsu, the Shunshin, allowed him to catch him off-guard almost every time. He'd slowly started getting used to it, but he was far from countering it. In addition, Shisui excelled in Genjutsu and Ninjutsu.

Takuya was another league altogether. He was fast, strong, smart, and countered everything Naruto threw at him. Except for Seals, which Naruto tended not to use, as to not raise any attention. And even though Takuyas built was smaller than that of Akira, he was stronger than him. Naruto had seen him block a punch of Akira with one hand, and throw him to the ground. And although not as fast as Shisui, he was still able to predict all of his movements. Naruto had grown to respect him greatly.

He had yet to find out anything about the team-member that had most likely been killed before. All he knew, was that he'd had the Codename Kuma.

Naruto hadn't needed a lot of time to get used to the signs. After the third day in ANBU, he had hardly made any mistakes anymore, although on the third day, instead of saying _Attacking from the right_ he'd said _Pumpkin attack tonight._ Of course, the attack had failed and Akira had spent the next ten minutes laughing at his mistake. Then again, Akira still tended to remind him of this embarrassing failure even now.

Naruto now turned on his back and looked at the ceiling. He took out his mask, and looked at the seal engraved into it. He smiled as he thought about it. He had needed almost a year to come up with that seal, and he was fairly proud of his accomplishment. It was a transformation seal that would keep his appearance as Kitsune as long as he had the mask on. And to make sure that he didn't lose the mask, the seal was made in a way that it sucked his chakra as soon as the mask touched his face. Obviously, no large amount. Just enough to keep the mask on his face. That way, even if he was to lose concentration, or even consciousness, he wouldn't lose the mask, and thus wouldn't transform back. The most difficult part, and the part that had taken him most of the time, was the one that changed his chakra flow, making it seem like someone else's. He had had to study chakra a bit for this, but it had worked in the end. Hiruzen had praised him considerably as he told him about it. Well, he was now a Level 8 Seal apprentice, although he expected to be higher in some areas. He was aware that making his own seals was really advanced, but he just understood it really well. And since he'd learnt the shadow clone, he had a lot more time to spend on working on seals.

Naruto's smile soon turned to a frown as his thought drifted towards his friend. Itachi had yet to come back from his mission, and Naruto was slowly getting worried. He should have returned days ago. And when he'd asked his father about it, he'd simply sent him away. _"I'm sure they are alright."_ He'd told Naruto. But he hadn't looked that convinced either.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the village, on the chakras, like he'd one almost every night for the past week. He shot up from his position and concentrated on the chakras that were entering the gate, and let go of a breath as he felt Itachi and his team enter.

Exhaustion forgotten, he got up from his bed and grabbed his equipment. Daiki already up and ready to go, looked at him expectantly. Naruto patted his head, and walked out, with his companion following him. He ran through the village, towards the gate. The team had stopped there, probably to notify the guards of them coming back. He skidded to a halt as he arrived there, meeting Itachis relieved and somehow hollow look.

"Itachi?" Naruto asked worriedly. He quickly checked him over for any injuries, and noticed that he was holding onto his side and was swaying lightly. Naruto moved forward in an instant as he saw Itachi closing his eyes, and falling forward. "Itachi!" He caught him before Itachi reached the ground and looked at his hand as he felt it getting wet. Blood.

"Naruto-san. Perfect timing."

Naruto looked up into the eyes of Itachis Jonin instructor. A tall man, wearing the traditional outfit, and short brown hair with a short beard. "Keshi-san." Naruto brought out worriedly. "What happened? No wait. That doesn't matter. I'll take him to the hospital. Is there someone else that needs to be brought?" Naruto asked as he moved Itachi on his back. He was sure that first aid had already been given. He couldn't do much now.

Keshi nodded and turned to show Itachi's two other teammates, a girl and a boy, unconscious on his back. Naruto hadn't noticed them before. "Are you sure you're able to carry Itachi to the hospital?" Keshi asked.

Naruto nodded, and followed Keshi as he moved at a fast pace towards the hospital. Naruto following him without troubles. As they arrived, medics quickly rushed towards them and took the injured genin from them. Naruto then turned towards Keshi. "What happened?"

Keshi turned towards Naruto. He knew him. Like everybody in the village knew him. He was the Hokage's son after all. But he was surprised to see him act like this. From what he heard, Naruto was hardly a talented kid. But somehow he'd manged to keep up with him. And he wasn't even out of breath. He furrowed his brows. "Classified." He stated and then turned around. "I need to report to your father. Thank you for helping." He said and disappeared.

Naruto furrowed his brows. He hadn't been told about the mission Itachi went on, but it was only a C-Rank. How could the three genin come back in such a state, and their Jonin instructor with cuts and bruises on his body after a lowly C-Rank? And almost a week after their supposed return.

"Naruto."

Naruto looked up towards Tsunade. "Baa-chan. Itachi?" He questioned.

Tsunade smiled. "He'll be fine. It was pretty bad, but first aid was done very well." She said.

"But, the blood…"

"It caught a kidney." She said. "But he was lucky, it's not a large gash. He has a few broken bones as well. But he'll be fine." She assured once more.

Naruto released a sigh. "And his teammates?" Naruto asked.

"A few broken bones as well. Nothing to worry about either. They are mostly exhausted. Itachi was the worst injured."

Naruto sighed in relief at this. "Can I see him?"

Instead of answering, Tsunade smiled and walked to the side, letting Naruto pass, and enter the room Itachi was in, followed by Tsunade and Daiki.

Naruto looked worriedly at his best friend's unconscious form. This was the first time he was injured so badly, and Naruto wondered for a moment if Itachi usually felt like this when Naruto was brought into the hospital.

He stayed there for the rest of the night. He'd been joined by Mikoto soon after he'd entered himself, and Keshi had come back once to see how they were doing, and had left again a short time later. Morning came, and Itachi had yet to wake up. Mikoto was asleep, her head on the bed while holding Itachi's hand. Naruto had covered her with his jacket after he'd seen her falling asleep, and had monitored his friend all night. He now looked down towards Daiki.

"Hey boy. I have to go." He said, and Daiki raised his head to look at him. "Stay here with Itachi." He said and got up from his position. Usually, Daiki spent the day with the Shadow clone Naruto, since Daiki couldn't follow him into ANBU. But today, he would just stay with Itachi. Daiki got up from his position as well, and jumped on the bed, laying down at Itachi's feet. Naruto smiled. "That's a good boy." He said as he petted him. Naruto then turned around, and left the room. Time for training.

XXX

Kitsune arrived at Headquarters soon after leaving the hospital. He'd made sure to leave the usual Shadow clones to go to school and to train.

"Hey Rookie!"

Kitsune stopped in his musing and turned to look at the ANBU that had called him. He'd been called Rookie by all except his teammates for the past almost three weeks, and was already looking forward to get rid of that name. But since he was a rookie, he couldn't really complain about it. The ANBU was male, and was from T&I if Naruto remembered correctly. His short black hair was straight and dark eyes stared at him. He was looking at him without his mask. Late thirties, if Kitsune guessed correctly. Kitsune gave a polite bow.

"Raidan-san. What can I do for you?" He asked, remembering the name of the man.

"Commander wants to see you." Raidan said.

Kitsune nodded, and moved passed him. Kitsune had tried not to get close to any of the fellow ANBUs, and had thus already become known for being very cold-hearted and emotionless. But Kitsune didn't mind. It was what was best after all. The less people tried to get to know him, the less chance of his identity being found out. He walked down the corridor, made a few turns, passed a few ANBUs, and soon arrived in front of Ibikis office. He knocked twice, and after hearing the notice to come in, opened the door.

Kitsune looked up in surprise at not only seeing Ibiki, but also his teammates and Hiruzen.

"Commander, Hiruzen-sama." He bowed towards them, and gave a short bow towards his team members.

"Kitsune. I heard you're getting used to the team and the formations." Ibiki stated. "Takuya says you're ready for missions." He added.

Kitsune looked towards Takuya for a second, feeling proud of the compliment he felt the man gave him by saying he was ready, but didn't say anything towards Ibiki. There must be a reason why he was here in T&I.

"Now before we can send you on a mission, you have to prove yourself trustworthy." Ibiki said. "Since your Identity is secret, we will work with that." He continued, and Kitsune noticed how Hiruzen seemed worried.

"You'll have to be able to protect information's to work in ANBU." Takuya said. "If you pass this, we'll be able to go on missions." Kitsune nodded stiffly, and Takuya nodded in return. He then walked passed Kitsune, and gave him a clap on his shoulder. "Good luck." He said and walked out. The motion was mimicked by the rest of his teammates as they left.

"You can still stop now, Kitsune." Hiruzen said, and Kitsune was sure to hear a pleading in his voice to just do that.

"No. I'll do it." He said determinately.

Hiruzen nodded sadly at this, and turned to look at Ibiki. "Then, I leave it to you." He said, and before Kitsune had time to react, he felt himself fall forward, darkness engulfing him.

XXX

His head hurt. His body on fire. Voices. He opened his eyes. He was dizzy. He wore a mask. The room was spinning and two person in front of him were out of focus. Where was he? Who were those people? Why was he here? He tried to move. His hands attached to something. He moved his head to look. A chair. Why was he attached to a chair?

"Awake again?" Asked one of the voices. Male, familiar, yet he couldn't say who it was.

"Did I go too hard on him?" A female voice.

He remembered. It was a voice he'd heard a lot lately. Every time he woke up. His eyes started to focus again.

"No." The male voice said again.

He saw how the man threw something in his direction, and gasped as the water from the bucket came in contact with his head, throwing away the last part of his dizziness.

"Still not going to talk, Kitsune?" Asked the man. "Come on. Tell me your name."

"No." Kitsune answered. His head was always in a state like that after their session. How long had it been since Ibiki and that woman had started their interrogation? Two days? Three? He didn't know. They had injected him weird things, things that made him forget why he was here, things that had more than once almost led to him revealing his identity. He knew, that this was a test. If they wanted to know his identity, they could have just taken off his mask. But that wasn't the point. He was meant to endure. And endure he would. He'd been hurt physically by the villagers before, and although they were only messing with his head, and not using any physical force, he would stay strong.

"Really. Shall we go another round then? Let's go up with the dose." The woman said, and moved closer, needle in hand.

Kitsune raised his head, and looked straight into the woman's light brown eyes. Her violet hair styled in a fanned-ponytail. She smiled wickedly at him, and injected him again with an unknown substance. His head getting dizzy again, he felt how his head started to sway. He wanted to throw up, and cringed as he felt the hand of his commander on his head.

"Let's try this again, shall we." Ibiki said, and Kitsune felt him entering his head again.

Kitsune, meanwhile already used to these attempts, put all of his mental strength into defending the attack. He shouted in pain, but didn't stop fighting against the attack. This went on for some time, before the hand retracted, and the pain subsided. He was breathing heavily, still dizzy, and then slowly fell into unconscious again, the last thing he heard was his commander's voice.

"Let's call for Yuki."

XXX

 **Wohoo, and the next. Now you might be surprised, and maybe not, that Naruto is the weakest of his team, but the fact is, he is ten, his only opponent (with the exception for the one-time thing with the Kumo and Hiruzen) was Itachi, and he didn't have any experience Shinobi teach him (With the exception of Panda, who taught them the basics and some Jutsus. I'm not counting his parents here). So he'd hardly be able to beat them. They are the elite after all.**

 **Anyway, hope you liked it.**

 **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	15. Chapter 15: Envoy (part 1)

**Hey guys,**

 **Once more thank you for the Reviews, the favourites and the following. You guys are great. I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Have a good read.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 15: Envoy - part 1

Kitsune felt warmth spreading through his body. A calming feeling, and a sense of security. He slowly opened his eyes, and looked up to see a young girl, probably still a teenager, with a concentrated look on her face. Her short brown hair was wet from her sweat, and her green eyes were focused. Kitsune noticed her hand on his forehead, on top of his mask, the place the warmth was spreading from. As she saw Kitsune opening his eyes though, she smiled at him.

"Hello, Kitsune. How are you feeling?" She asked with a kind voice.

"Who… Are you?" Kitsune asked with a sore throat.

"Yuki. I am a medic from ANBU. I specialise in mind-healing."

Kitsune slowly tried to get up from his laying position, only noticing now that he was lying in a bed.

"Don't get up yet." Yuki said and pushed him back down.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

Yuki smiled. "You had your test with the Commander."

Kitsune's eyes widened in shock and he tried to get up once more, only for Yuki to push him back down again. "Oh no. Did I fail? I can't have failed. I can't…"

"Calm down, Kitsune. You didn't fail." She said.

Kitsune looked at her with confusion.

"You spent a week with him and Anko-san. You didn't say a thing." She said with a smile. "Which is rather amazing, by the way."

"Anko. As in Mitarashi Anko?" Kitsune asked.

"Yes. You know her?"

Kitsune shook his head. "Only from the name. Heard she's crazy."

Yuki chuckled. "She does give off that impression."

Kitsune stared at her for a moment. "Aren't you a bit too young to be a medic-nin by the way?"

Yuki crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I am seventeen years old, just so you know. And I might not be as great a medic as Tsunade-sama, but I am good at what I do. And you are hardly someone to tell me off about my age." She said with a huff.

Kitsune raised his hands in defence. "No need to get all defensive. Didn't meant to insult."

Yuki grinned. "I'm just kidding. Now, you're new, so you probably don't know. But in ANBU, every Shinobi has a mind-healer that he can go to. ANBU is nothing for the faint of heart, so you'll see a lot of things you wouldn't as a normal Shinobi. Nevertheless, you have to be able to do your job to your full capacity, and thus, you are to receive a mental evaluation every now and then." She said with a smile. "And that is done by me. I'm new as well, so you're my first ANBU." She said with and excited grin. "Although I was expecting someone who is a bit more, well… gruff." She finished.

Kitsune raised his eyebrows, not that she could actually see that, and slowly sat up. This time, she didn't stop him. "Well sorry to disappoint." He said in monotonous voice.

Yuki smiled broadly again, and clapped Kitsune on the shoulder. "Hehe. Of course, I am not only in charge of your evaluation, but I am also available to you for anything you want to talk to. Be it about your missions or whatever."

"Basically, you're my shrink?"

She furrowed her brows and pouted at him. "I prefer the term mind-healer." She said. "But basically, yes. It doesn't have to be about your life as a Shinobi either. For example, if there is a girl you like…" She started.

"I'm not interested in girls." Kitsune interjected.

Yuki stared at him in surprise for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, if there is a boy you like…"

Kitsune blushed under his mask. "That's not what I meant. I meant no relationship in general. Wait, why am I telling you this? This is none of your business."

Yuki grinned. "See? I'm good at what I do."

Kitsune sighed, but then smiled under his mask. She was seven years older than him, but… What a weird girl.

"Done flirting with the pretty young lady, Pumpkin?"

Yuki chuckled. "Pumpkin?"

Kitsune cursed under his mask, and stared towards the door, where his teammates had just appeared. None were wearing their mask as they looked at him with different expressions on their faces. "Akira. It was one time, and that was three weeks ago damn it! Let it go."

Akira grinned. "No way."

"Maybe you want to talk about this?" Yuki asked with a grin still visible.

"No!" Kitsune snapped back.

"How are you?" Interjected Shisui, trying to grasp Kitsune's attention away from killing the two, who high fived as Kitsune turned towards Shisui, who seemed the only one who had a slight worried look on his face.

"I'm good." Kitsune said towards the teen.

Shisui nodded in response.

"Well, since you're good again, how about moving your lazy ass?" Said Riku with a grin.

"Good to see you too." Said Kitsune with an annoyed sigh, but got up from his seating position. Yuki made an attempt to help him up, but Kitsune moved her hand to the side. "I'm good. Thanks."

Yuki furrowed her brows shortly, but nodded with a sigh. "It doesn't matter how long someone is in ANBU. They are all the same." She murmured and moved over to her desk. She threw Kitsune a small box. "If you feel a headache coming up, take one of those." She said and sat down on her chair. "I'll see you around then." She added, dismissing him.

Kitsune smiled under his mask. "Yeah, see you." He then turned around to look at his team. "Alright. Anything up?" He asked as they walked outside.

Takuya looked at him over his shoulder as they walked along the corridor. "Yeah. First mission coming up."

XXX

Naruto arrived at the stone face just minutes after he'd parted with his team. Since Naruto had been under questioning for a week, they had allowed him to go back and take care of whatever business amassed over that time. Although they only left him about an hour to do so. Naruto quickly made a shadow clone, and let it disappear just a moment later, to alert his clone of his presence.

The clones he'd left to train were gone, and he hazily remembered them cancelling the jutsu after he hadn't returned for two days, to make sure that the exhaustion the real Naruto was to receive would be kept at a minimum. There was only one clone left, and that was the one that went to school for him, and appeared before his family.

Naruto closed his eyes as he received the memories of the clone moments later. The last week passing before his eyes in a fast notion. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. His mother had been on a mission for a few days, Kei had once again reached top of the class at an exam they had had, and he'd hardly seen his father. Nothing of importance had happened at school, except that he'd had to refuse a spar with Hana, in order to not be destroyed during the fight. So he'd lost a few points again. He might drop in the ranking because of that, but he dismissed it rapidly. It didn't matter. Hana had been a bit disappointed about Naruto refusing to fight her, so he would have to make it up to her. The two had been partners in everything since Itachi left, so they spared often together.

He sighed in relieve as the memories of Itachi waking up came to him. He'd woken up around noon on the day Naruto had last seen him, and had been allowed to leave the hospital along his teammates the same evening.

"You're back."

Naruto turned around and smiled at Itachi. "I am. How are you?" He said ad relaxed his shoulders for the first time since leaving ANBU. After all, he had to act a lot different than he usually would. Being monotonous and cold was not the way he was, and he was somehow always on his guard. He was glad he and Itachi had spent a lot of time creating the character 'Kitsune', since he could now act without thinking about it. But seeing his friend again after so long did him good. He felt like himself again.

"All healed up. Did you have a mission?" Itachi asked as he came closer.

"No. Was being tested again. In case I'm captured, to see that I wouldn't relay information. I'll tell you about it later." He dismissed with a wave.

Itachi nodded and stared intently at Naruto. "You look a bit pale."

Naruto smiled. "Been a long week. My heads a mess." He confessed. "By the way, glad you're alright. But I'm really curious, as to what happened. It was supposed to be a C-Rank."

Itachi nodded and sighed as his eyes clouded for a second. "Yeah, but it turned into an A-Rank. We were meant to capture some bandits near the border." Itachi started. "We watched their routine for the first two weeks. There were around twenty bandits in the camp." Itachi informed Naruto. "Sensei said that usually we wouldn't spend two weeks watching bandits, but he'd talked it over with Hokage-sama, that it would be good training to watch them longer. Experience for later missions. And when we finally decided to attack, we found out, that the information we got about the bandits was wrong." Itachi stated with a frown. "There were Shinobi in the group. From Iwa." He said and made his hands into fists. "3 Chunin and 2 Jonin. And then the other 15 or so bandits. It was a mess. Sensei fought one Jonin and two Chunin, I the Chunin, while Haru took out the bandits, and Zen took on the Jonin." He started. Naruto had only gotten to know Itachi's two teammates shortly, but he'd been told they were quite reliable. Both Haru and Zen had been Genin for almost three years, their previous teammate making Chunin a year ago. It was only natural that Zen or Haru would take on the Jonin. They had more experience after all. "Haru was done with the bandits rather fast, and stepped in to help Zen, since he was having more troubles." He continued. "The Jonin was strong, and Haru and Zen were soon taken out. Luckily, they were only knocked out by one of the Jonin's Jutsu, and not killed. I think he was holding back on them. They were hardly injured. Thankfully." He added. "And at about the same time I killed the Chunin." Itachi said, the tone in his voice showing just how he hated that thought. "Then I took on the Jonin. He was really angry, since I killed his teammate, and did quite a number on me." He stated and rested his hand on his stomach. "Sensei, who had meanwhile taken care of the other Jonin and the two Chunin, stepped in to help me. He took out the Jonin I was fighting. After that, he did some first aid on my and my teammates injuries, and we hurried back to Konoha. But it took us longer, because my teammates were unconscious, and both I and Sensei were low on Chakra." He finished.

Naruto was silent after he finished listening to his friend. "I'm sorry. For both, you having to go through that on your first real mission, and for killing someone." He said after a while.

Itachi looked up at him, and smiled slightly. "It's okay. We talked a lot about this, so I understand that it was necessary." He said.

"Doesn't mean we have to enjoy it." They stayed silent for a while, until Naruto suddenly looked up in surprise. "By the way, where's Daiki?" He asked curiously. Trying to lighten the heavy mood in the room.

"I sent him home after your clone disappeared. You did tell me that you'd have to leave again right away after all."

"Well, my clone did."

"Right. So why do you have to leave?"

"Mission." Naruto said and furrowed his brows. "I'm nervous about it though. Takuya did say that I was ready, but I'm still really nervous. I don't want to mess up…"

"You'll do fine." Itachi said. "You know what kind of mission it is?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Got to meet my team at the Hokage's office in… 15 minutes." He said after checking the time.

Itachi nodded. "You need to get your things for the mission then?"

"No. I was told by Takuya that I should be ready to leave any second, so I'm basically ready. Just wanted to make sure everything is working well with the clones and all."

"I don't think anyone's noticed."

"Well I sure hope not."

"You better head back then. Good luck on your mission." Itachi said and turned around.

"Thanks." Naruto said, and created one clone, making sure to pump him with enough Chakra for it to last a month. After all, he didn't know how long the mission would take. The clone walked up to Itachi, and the two left the stone face, leaving Naruto on his own again. He quickly put on his mask that he'd taken off as he entered the hideout, and changed into Kitsune.

XXX

Kushina was sighing heavily as she sealed the last item into her scroll. She'd just gotten back from her mission the day before, and had to leave again right away for another. It wasn't that she was tired, but rather, she wasn't looking forward to the mission. Minato had asked her a month ago to take part in the mission, and of course, she couldn't refuse.

She stretched shortly before moving into the kitchen, and taking out a notepad from one of the drawers. She quickly scribbled a note on it.

 _Leaving for a mission. Be back soon. Love you, Mum_

Although she'd told both Kei and Naruto that she would be leaving on a mission, she always made sure they would know exactly when she left.

Kushina fixed her hair in a ponytail and put on her flak jacket, headband tied around her forehead tightly. She then left the house to meet her team in Minato's office.

She was surprised to see that she wasn't the first to have arrived, but instead she arrived face to face with the ANBU team that was meat to accompany her team. They were waiting for the remaining troupe in front of Minato's office.

"Koumori. Long-time no see." She stated in a friendly tone. Even though she knew exactly who was beneath the mask, she knew better than to openly say his name. She'd had quite a few missions with his ANBU team in the past, and she was glad to know that the ANBU team was reliable and could work well with her.

Takuya gave a curt bow. "Kushina. I am glad to see you well."

"Same here." She then turned to look at the rest of his team. She had heard that Kuma had passed some time ago, but she didn't know the details. She knew Shisui, Akira and Riku personally as well, but she stared curiously at the new member. He wore a fox-mask, and seemed fairly young. He seemed rather taken aback to see her, which made her even more curious. "You must be the new member. I am Namikaze Kushina." She stated with a smile.

"Kitsune. Pleasure to meet you, Kushina-sama." He said stiffly.

"Same here. Let's get along." She said with a smile. Kitsune only nodded, and then turned and moved a bit further back to exchange a few words with Shisui.

"How long has he been in your team?" asked Kushina, directing it at Takuya, but not leaving Kitsune from her line of sight. Something about him caught her interest. She felt like she knew him, but at the same time, she couldn't tell at all who it could be.

"A month now. Just finished the session with Ibiki and Anko this morning." Koumori stated and looked over at Kitsune as well. "He's quite the mystery. But really talented." He said. He smiled under his mask as he watched how Akira and Riku moved over towards them as well, Tora saying something to Kitsune that seemed to rile him up. A moment later Kitsune was in a headlock from Akira, Shisui and Riku chuckling next to them.

Kushina watched Takuya carefully. "I wasn't expecting you to accept someone so fast into your team, or your team to accept someone for that matter, after Kuma. I'm sorry you lost him." She added in a considerate tone.

Takuya turned to look back at Kushina, and nodded in thanks. "I wasn't either. But somehow… You can't help but be drawn to him." He said. "He does everything you tell him, and works without a single complain, even after training is done. I don't know what it is… It just feels, like he would go to hell and back to protect you." He said.

"Hmmm…" Kushina stated curiously. She knew Koumori rather well, and knew that he didn't trust people easily. He was friendly, and didn't show the mistrust he actually held, so not many knew what he really felt like. But being in the same genin team and later the same Chunin team, as well as having missions together over the years did bring people rather close.

Kushina was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by the arrival of several more people. She watched as the remaining of her team came in. Hayate Gekko, a brown haired tokubetsu Jonin with dark markings under his eyes due to his chronic illness, and who wore the traditional Shinobi attire as well as a sword on his back. Genma Shiranui, a brown haired tokubetsu jounin with a senbon in his mouth. And the last one was young girl with long black hair, Tsubasa, who only recently became a Chunin, but had greatly impressed the judges with her control over the water-element. She wore a short blue kimono, with the flak jacket over it, and a tanto on her lower back.

Genma stopped in front of Kushina. "Kushina-san." He nodded in greeting. The greeting was then followed by the two remaining team members.

"Genma, Hayase, Tsubasa-chan. Good to see you here." She said with a smile and then turned to Takuya. "Let's go in then."

Takuya nodded, and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Came Minato's voice.

Kushina moved in first, smiling at her husband. Takuya went next, followed by the rest of the two teams. They all bowed to Minato, and Kushina and Takuya then took a place in front of their teams.

Kushina saw how Minato's gaze passed shortly over every Shinobi, staying only a second longer on Kitsune than the others. Kushina's curiosity was fuelled even more through this. Who was he?

"Good to see you all here." Minato started with a smile. "Both Koumori and Kushina have already been informed on the mission, but I'll go over it with you nevertheless." His expression turned serious as he crossed his hands in front of him on the desk. "In two days, an envoy from Kumo will arrive at the border. I cannot personally receive them, which is why Kushina will be going in my stead as a political measure. Your job is to escort them here safely. If word has spread, which it most likely has, you'll be attacked. This is an A-Rank mission, so please be careful. You leave right away." He finished.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." They all stated. Kushina sighed slightly. Dealing with an envoy from Kumo really wasn't her dream of a mission.

With that, she turned to her team. "At the gate in 5. I'll join you right away." Her team nodded, and then disappeared.

Takuya nodded to his team, and they all left as well, leaving Kushina and Minato alone back in the office.

Minato smiled at her as he got up. "I know you don't like to deal with Kumo, but it looks good when you of all people welcome them."

"I know." She said with a sigh, and let Minato pull her close.

He put his forehead on hers, and smiled. "Be careful. Don't get hurt." He said seriously.

She smiled, and gave him a peck on the lips. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. Take care of the boys while I'm gone."

"Of course." He said, and let go of her, and watched as she followed after her team.

XXX

Kitsune was leaning against the gate, Shisui, Takuya, Akira and Riku were standing around him, as they waited for Kushina to arrive. Just a few feet from them was Kushina's team.

Kitsune carefully thought about his current situation. His first mission was with his mother. He hadn't thought that that could be possible. It was really weird, and he was really nervous about her finding out. He just hoped, he would do well.

Kitsune looked up as he felt one of the shinobi from his mother's team approach.

"Genma Shiranui." He introduced himself and motioned to his teammates. "Hayate Gekko, and Tsubasa." Let's get along on this mission."

Takuya turned towards him, and nodded. "Koumori. And this is Fukuro, Tora, Karasu and Kitsune." He introduced the team. They all gave a curt nod.

"Good to see you get along." Came Kushina's voice. "Koumori, how is your team formation?"

"Kitsune in front, I in the back, Tora and Karasu taking the sides, and Fukuro in the middle." He said.

Kushina looked in surprise at Kitsune. The front was the most important position to handle. Being in front meant you had to lead the team away from any dangers in front. One usually needed years to get used to that position. And what was more, usually that place was meant for the team leader. Only in special cases was that position left to someone else. But Kitsune didn't seem fazed by all of that. Was he even aware of the meaning to be placed in the front? Takuya really trusted this boy. But she nodded to Takuya nonetheless. "Tsubasa is a fresh Chunin, could I leave her with you? Hayate and Gekko will take the sides as well, and I will take the front."

Koumori nodded, and looked at Tsubasa. "Then you're with me." He said. The young girl nodded hastily and joined his side.

"Let's go then." Kushina said and they all jumped in direction of Kumo.

Kitsune jumped next to Kushina, but didn't look at her, although he noticed how she kept sending him glances. He took a deep breath and concentrated on his surroundings. Takuya had told him once during training that during missions he would be put in the front. Being a sensor, it was the most logical decision. He would be the first to know if there were any enemies in front. Of course, he was aware that he wouldn't always be able to sense them, but usually there was still a very faint signature of chakra left, even when shinobi hid their presence.

Kitsune looked up at the sun. They had to go towards north-east. He nodded as they were still right on track. Even though Kushina would have changed their direction by now had they been wrong, he still had to check. If this was to be his usual position, he had to be sure that he could do the navigating well.

"How many times have you been in front?"

Kitsune looked at Kushina, who had voiced that question. "My first time." He said, sounding as emotionless as possible.

Kushina looked surprised. "First time?"

Kitsune nodded, and turned to the front again. They had been going for an hour, and she had finally asked a question. He was surprised she'd waited so long, since she hadn't kept her curiosity any secret. Kitsune, who felt a few human presences about 10 miles ahead, led the group slightly to the right.

"We're still right on track." Kushina said, but followed anyway.

"There are a few people ahead. Just civilian probably, but we shouldn't be seen."

Kushina once more looked surprised.

"I am a sensor." He explained.

Understanding crossed Kushina's features. "I see. So to signal to the team, you're placed in front. Since you can't have them see your signal from the sides or the back. And shouting to the front is contra productive."

Kitsune nodded. After they had successfully evaded the civilian, Kitsune brought the group back on track.

They stopped a few miles from the border, and put up their tents. It was already starting to get dark, but they managed to finish putting up the camp in time before it was fully dark.

"Kitsune, you take the watch." Takuya said and moved into one of the tents, the action was followed by the rest of the ANBU team, while Kushina's team stared in confusion as the ANBU captain left the work to keep watch for the whole night to one of his men.

Kitsune just nodded, and made a cross with his fingers. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu." He said and ten shadow clones came into existence. The real Kitsune nodded towards them, and they dispersed.

Kushina and her team stared in shock as Kitsune made so simple use of a Kinjutsu. Kushina turned to her teammates. "I don't think we'll need to keep watch. Go to bed." She said, and after the three Shinobi left as well, Kushina turned to Kitsune, who had sat down and was leaning against a tree. She couldn't see it, but she was rather sure he would have his eyes closed, trying to sleep as well, while leaving his clones to work. "You seem to have quite a lot of chakra to be able to pull off ten shadow clones." She said as she sat down next to him.

Kitsune raised his head and looked into her eyes. "Well, yeah. But that also means I have too much chakra for the theoretically easy Jutsus." He said. "I'm for example unable to perform the simple Bushin." He said with a sigh.

Kushina looked up in surprise. "Really?" She then chuckled. "You're like my son then."

"Your son?"

"Naruto. My oldest son. He can't perform the Bushin if his life depended on it." She said. "I can't do it either for that matter."

"Really?"

"Yeah…" She said and a guilty look came over her face. "I wasn't fair towards him because of that though."

"How so?" Kitsune asked, although he knew exactly what she meant.

"He had an exam on parent's day, almost two years back, and he had to perform the clone Jutsu. He failed, and both Minato and I held it against him." She started. "I should have known better, having had the same problems. But I kept thinking that he just didn't work enough on it. I had a mission the next day, and Naruto didn't come back for hours that night. He came back in the early morning, after hiding for hours in a sealed up place, and Minato talked to him." She turned to him and put a finger over her mouth. "Don't tell Minato or Naruto, but I eavesdropped on them that night. Couldn't sleep." She added as she felt the curious gaze of Kitsune. She sighed. "I really am an awful mother." She said. "Even though I had the same problem…"

"You're not a bad mother." Kitsune said, but didn't look at her. Instead, he stared into the distance. Kushina looked up in surprise. "We're living in a dangerous world. You want your son to be strong. That's understandable. You don't want to see his weaknesses, because you care about him." He said, still not looking at her.

"But I never apologized. I was never able to… I felt so guilty. Every time I wanted to bring it up, I… "

"You didn't have to apologize." Kitsune interrupted her. "After that, didn't you change something?" Asked Kitsune, once again already knowing the answer.

"I… Well, I started to teach him about Kenjutsu, and seals. Not that he really needed that one. He is amazing with seals. A real prodigy." She said and her expression turned really proud in that instant.

Kitsune blushed at the compliment he received from his mother, but quickly composed himself again. "Then you made amends. You did your best trying to compensate his weaknesses. You stuck by his side." Kitsune stated and smiled under his mask. Yes. His mother had stuck by his side with both seals and Kenjutsu, even though in the later he hardly made any progress in her presence, she had stayed. He had long forgiven her. And it wasn't like he hadn't been disappointed at himself for failing.

Kushina stared at him in shock and something akin to thankfulness. "Thank you. But… How did you know?"

Kitsune looked at her in confusion.

"That I started teaching him?" She clarified.

Kitsune stared at her for a moment. "Ah… Well, I kinda know Naruto…" He said and scratched the back of his head. "He's a friend of mine…" He said. _"Crap. Didn't mean to get that out so soon…"_ Kitsune thought. One day the questions about his seals would come up, and obviously by knowing Itachi, knowing Naruto was almost a must, since they were the best of friends, so he could say that the seals came from Naruto. But nonetheless. He'd planned to keep it secret a bit longer. And definitely hadn't planned on revealing it to his mother. He hoped she would believe him.

"Really? I wasn't aware of that." She said in surprise. "I never saw you with him though."

"Yeah, well. That secret place, where Naruto put seals on. You know, the one where he hid after said exam." He started and after a nod of confirmation from Kushina, he continued. "We meet up every once in a while there." He finished.

"So you already knew about me." She stated.

"Naruto told me, yes."

"He doesn't resent me?" She asked in a plea.

"No." Came Kitsune's simple answer. "He was… hurt. But at the same time he also understood. He knew you cared." He shook his head. "He knows you care." He corrected.

"Thank you." Kushina said and the stared of into the distance.

"No problem."

Kushina smiled. "You're really easy to talk to, you know? And you really don't give off that impression. Ah, sorry I bothered you with this."

"It's fine. You were actually trying to find out about me after all." Kitsune answered, and chastised himself over being to talkative. But this was his mother. He couldn't just leave her after he realized she still felt guilty over that incident.

Kushina grinned. "Well, you're interesting. But you're even more of a mystery now." She said.

Kitsune smiled under his mask. "Good. Would be bad if you could just recognise me on the bat." He said and then put his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes. "You should go to sleep, Kushina-sama. I'll keep watch."

"You're being awfully formal considering I just told you something so personal." She said and watched him curiously.

"You are the Hokage's wife and the head of the Uzumaki-clan."

"But I am still just Kushina." She said.

Kitsune smiled sadly under his mask. How ironic, that his mother was also trying to get rid of the 'sama'. He hadn't known about that side of hers. "But you deserve to be respected." He said.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine. But tell me, why are you staying outside when your clones are keeping watch?" Kushina asked as she got up. Truly curious.

Kitsune shrugged. "Night is nice." He said and then he watched as Kushina left with a shaking head.

XXX

 **Okay. I talked a lot with ncpfan, and I agreed that I did not go into enough detail about the whole Kushina/Naruto ordeal. I was thinking of doing a flashback, but I really didn't plan on bringing one in. Therefor this will be it. I was planning on having them go on this mission together for a while, and so I brought up the subject like this. I hope it is to your liking. I will not go further into their 'dispute'. Please know that I did not mean to make Kushina seem like a bad mother. She is not. She loves Naruto, and never 'planed' to abandon him. She made a mistake, and she regrets it. I know that she didn't apologize, but I just don't see her do it. Not because she doesn't know that she made a mistake, as I made clear, she knows it. But I just think that she would not know how to apologize to him, because she felt so bad about wronging him. So she tried to get closer to him again, by helping him with seals, and teaching him Kenjutsu.**

 **Also, about Kushina's behaviour after Akemi's death, it will be brought up again in a later chapter. But it's going to be a while until then. So please bear with me.**

 **Anyway, hope you liked it.**

 **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	16. Chapter 16: Envoy (part 2)

**Hey guys,**

 **Soooorrry… Took a long time again… But Japan is great, and I usually only get back in the later evening. I'm living in a dorm, so I'm pretty much always doing something…**

 **But a lot of thanks for the reviews and Favourites. I was surprised to see that I got a Spanish review, and had to put it through the translator (Spanish is unfortunately not a language I can speak), but glad you like the story ;)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 16: Envoy - part 2

Kitsune watched as Kushina entered the tent, and then waited for another 15 minutes before getting up from his seated position. He walked away from the camp, until he was in a small clearing. He sighed heavily as he looked down at his shaking hands. He'd been able to hide it well, but he was awfully nervous, and scared. This was his first time out of Konoha. And he was almost at the border. Of course he was nervous. And he'd had to lead the team in the right direction. Of course, Kushina had always been there, and so the chances of actually going into the wrong direction was really slim, but still. He'd concentrated on all of his surroundings to catch every kind of movements from anything at all. He'd almost fallen of a branch as a deer suddenly entered his radius. A deer. That would have been embarrassing. He went with a hand through his hair. Tomorrow they would meet the people from Kumo. His last meeting with them hadn't ended so well, so yet another thing to be nervous about. Obviously, they wouldn't know that he was the one that killed one of their Shinobi two years ago.

Kitsune unsheathed the Katana on his back and started to train. His mind was tired, but his body wasn't in the least. Going through different kind of Katas was soothing to his chaotic mind. After some hours, when he saw the sun come up, and noticed his shadow clones dispel, he felt a lot calmer. There had been no intruders during the night, and he slowly walked back towards the camp.

"Couldn't sleep at all?"

Kitsune looked up to see that Takuya was already preparing breakfast. He didn't say anything as he sat down next to him on a log, watching the fire dance. Kitsune wasn't even surprised that Takuya knew about his nightly activity. He was a good captain, and had probably known for a while that Naruto had been nervous all day.

Takuya looked at him through his mask for a moment before concentrating again on the breakfast. "You did well yesterday." He said.

Kitsune sighed in relief. "Thanks." Knowing that Takuya felt like this, made Kitsune feel more secure.

"Take front again today." He added.

Kitsune looked at his captain for a moment, before nodding. Takuya then proceeded to give Kitsune some of the meat he had on the grill. Kitsune wasn't sure what it was, but he took it gratefully. "Thanks." He said and started to eat.

"Good morning Koumori, Kitsune." Kushina's voice came from behind them. She was stretching as she came out of her tent.

Behind her, Tsubasa came out, and bowed to Kitsune and Takuya. "Good morning, Koumori-san, Kitsune-san." She said shyly.

Takuya nodded. "Morning. Tsubasa-chan, come get your breakfast." He said kindly.

"Wait. What about me?" Kushina asked as she put her hands on her hip.

"Make it yourself." Takuya stated. "My food is too good for someone who doesn't have a sense of taste." He said and smirked behind his mask.

Kitsune raised his eyebrows behind his mask, and wondered why Takuya said something like this about Kushina. His mother's cooking was really good. So why was he saying this? Another thing he wondered about was why the two were so casual with each other. He figured they had known each other before the mission, but Takuya seemed to take awful pleasure in teasing her.

Kitsune watched as Kushina blushed at the comment, and stomped on her foot angrily. "Damn it, Koumori. I was a kid. I'm a lot better now."

"You were sixteen. And almost killed all of us." He stated.

"AARGH. Shut up and give me some food." She shouted and moved past Kitsune to grab some of the meat over the fire.

Takuya seemed to have anticipated that, as he took said meat, and threw it at Tsubasa. The poor girl caught it on reflex, and stared at the piece of meat, and then at Kushina, who was eyeing the meat hungrily. It had been the last one on the fire. Tsubasa extended it to her. "Kushina-sama, if you want, you can have it."

"What? And sending my hard work to waste? Don't you dare Tsubasa-chan. Don't forget who'll be travelling next to you until we're back." Takuya said.

The poor Chunin seemed at loss at what to do. Then her stomach growled in hunger. Kushina sighed, and sat down next to Koumori. "Please. Let me have some..." She pleaded, giving up on the meat from Tsubasa.

Takuya smiled under his mask. "Really? The great Kushina is actually begging? Ah, what a great world." He said, and Kitsune was sure the man was grinning.

Kushina seemed annoyed, but didn't voice any complain. "Yes. I'm begging. Please give me food."

Takuya grabbed another piece of meat and threw it on the grill. "Fine. For old sakes time." He said, making Kushina grin.

"Damn, what's all the ruckus about so early in the morning?" Asked Akira as he stepped out of his tent, followed by Shisui.

"Good morning." Shisui said as he moved to sit next to Kitsune on the log.

Kitsune nodded and concentrated on his food. Kushina meanwhile continued her bickering with Takuya. Something about fish and deer, but Kitsune didn't listen and instead leaned over closer to Shisui. "Are they ex-lovers or something?" He whispered, even though he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know that his mother had had something with his current captain.

Takuya, who had just taken a sip out of his cup, spitted it out again and looked at Kitsune in horror. Kushina was having a similar expression on her face. "Are you out of your mind? Only Hokage-sama is courageous enough to deal with this woman." Shouted Takuya. And Kitsune was sure he wanted to say 'crazy' instead of 'courageous'.

"Never! Are you insane?!" Shouted Kushina at the same time.

Meanwhile, everyone around exploded in laughter. "I have to say, that's the first time I hear that." Akira said in between laughter.

"Indeed." Genma stated. He'd just joined the group along Hayate as Kitsune had voiced his question. "Kushina-san can only be handled by Hokage-sama."

"Who's being handled here?" Kushina pouted. "You're all just being mean."

The group erupted in another round of laughter, while Kitsune just smiled at the scene. Somehow relieved that his mother didn't used to have a romantic relationship with his captain.

"According to what I've heard, Hokage-sama had his eye on Kushina-sama from a very young age on." Shisui stated. "And same vice-versa." He added with a grin.

Kitsune wondered for a moment how he would know that, but came to the conclusion that he probably heard from Mikoto.

"Anyway." Kushina tried to change the subject. Her face almost as red as her hair. "Where's Fukuro?"

"Down at the river." Kitsune stated. The group turned to look at him curiously. "What? I was on watch." He said.

"Humm…" Akira stated, and Kitsune was sure he heard the grin in his voice. "So you kept a special sense open on Fukuro."

"Oh don't start. I know where this is heading." Kitsune said, but already accepted defeat.

"Heh, and I thought you had your eye on that girl back at headquarters. You really have a thing for medics, don't you?" He asked.

Kitsune sighed. He wondered for a second who was the kid between them, but then came to the conclusion. Akira. Akira was definitively the kid. "I'm not even gonna comment on that."

The group chuckled again.

"What's so funny?" Asked Riku who came back with a towel around her neck.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Said Takuya smiling under his mask.

Riku shrugged and went to sit down on the log, ready to take some breakfast as well.

XXX

"Anything yet, Kitsune?" Asked Takuya from Kitsune's right.

Kitsune, who was crouched on a branch, shook his head in negative. "Not yet." Kitsune didn't see it, but he could tell that Takuya was probably furrowing his brows. The team from Kumo should have arrived hours ago. It was already late in the afternoon, and the way it seemed, they would spend the night near the border once more.

"Shall I go take a look, Taichou?" Asked Akira from another branch. Kushina's team was also spread out over different trees, waiting for any news on the Kumo team.

Takuya thought for a moment, and then nodded. "You, Karasu and Kitsune, go." He said. Kitsune looked surprised that he was named to go as well, but his question was answered before he had time to ask. Takuya had turned towards him. "You'll know best to find them, and you can keep an eye out for possible threats from other villagers. If we're attacked, it will hardly be from the Fire country." He said.

Kitsune nodded, and followed after Shisui and Akira. They both made space for him to pass through, and so Kitsune took the front once more. It took them almost another half hour until Kitsune finally found them. He stopped on a branch, and as Shisui and Akira landed beside him, he explained what he felt. "They are about 10 miles ahead." He started. "But they are moving at walking pace. Something must have happened." He stated. "What do we do?" He asked and turned towards Akira. He was second in command after all, and would be making the decision while Takuya wasn't with them.

Akira thought for a moment. "We'll proceed to meet with them." He said. "If they need help, we'll provide it." He added.

Shisui and Kitsune nodded, and Kitsune then continued to lead them towards the Kumo envoy.

They arrived at their position about 15 minutes later. What they met there, was the unexpected sight of a large carriage that was somehow being carried by a man with tentacles coming from his body, and three Shinobi around him who were giving him directions. Which unfortunately didn't work so well, because the man with the tentacles kept moving to the side, ignoring the directions given by the other shinobi. Kitsune saw how the man walked into a tree, murmured something, walked back a little, changed direction, and walked straight into the next one to his right.

"Please, Oni-chan be careful." A small girl shouted from the side. She seemed to be around seven or eight years old, and had shoulder length brown hair, with a red ribbon in it. Next to her stood an old man, with white hair and a beard.

Kitsune, Shisui and Akira stopped on a tree a short distance from them and watched the procedure in confusion.

"Ah, Konoha-shinobi. B-sama, I told you they would send people. We are way too late. If you would only listen to…" Said one of the Kumo-Shinobi. He wore the traditional Jonin-outfit of Kumo, and had shoulder length brown hair, covered by a bandana with the Kumo-headband.

The two remaining Shinobi wore both the traditional outfit. One was a male, with short black hair, while the woman of the group had shoulder length blond hair.

"No way, okay. I got this, yeah!" The man called B rapped, interrupting the shinobi, and proceeded to walk yet again, straight into another tree.

Akira jumped down, followed by Shisui and Kitsune, and stood staring at the Kumo-envoy. "I am Tora, from Konoha-ANBU. We are to escort you to Konoha." He said and sent a curious glance at the young girl and the old man.

The man that had talked before moved forward, and bowed towards Akira. "I apologize for the delay. We happened to come across these merchants on our way to the border, they were being attacked by bandits. They were making their way towards Konoha, but their carriage broke down." The Shinobi explained. "We decided to help them. But we weren't able to travel at a fast rate. B-sama has been adamant about carrying the carriage by himself…" He said uncomfortably. "Ah, forgive me. I am K, Jonin of Kumo. These are Z" He motioned to the female Shinobi. "and G." He said, motioning to the last Shinobi of the envoy.

Akira sighed. He'd known right away who was underneath the carriage. Only the eight-tailed Jinchuuriki would show tentacles. And the rumours he'd heard about the Jinchuuriki consisted perfectly with what he'd just witnessed. He didn't worry too much about that, but the fact that they were travelling with merchants made the situation more complicated. It wasn't their job to accompany the merchants, but instead the escort. But leaving the merchants to fend for themselves didn't fit well with him either. He sighed again. "As much as I would like to respect B-san's wish, our remaining team is waiting at the border." He started. "I hope you will allow us to help you carry this? B-san?" Akira asked.

The carriage moved for a moment, and then it slowly reached the ground. A man appeared behind it, and walked towards Akira. He had white hair, dark skin, and wore the traditional one-strap-one-shoulder flak jacket, as well as oval shaped sunglasses and a white coloured forehead protector. The most noticeable feature were the seven swords on his back. "Yoh, I'm B. As you can see." He rapped and stood straight in front of Akira.

Akira gave a slight bow. "If you don't mind, we would like to give assistance, by moving the carriage." Akira stated his desire once more. Making sure that they had no intention of leaving the merchants by themselves.

B seemed undecided for a short moment, but then shrugged. "Only a man can carry it. Fool ya fool."

"Kitsune." Akira said, and Kitsune nodded. He quickly created four shadow clones that took care of carrying the carriage. "Stay with the carriage. If you notice something, tell me. Also, you carry the girl." Akira said and turned once more towards B. "May I leave the old man in your care?"

B nodded, and gave G a sign. He nodded, and moved to carry the old man.

Kitsune meanwhile had crouched down towards the girl. "I'm Kitsune. I'll carry you, so get on my back."

The girl nodded slowly, and got on Kitsune's back. "I am Koyuki." She said.

"Nice to meet you." Kitsune said as he got up from his crouched position.

Akira took a look around, and then nodded. "Let's go then. Karasu, take the back." He said with a look at Shisui. The teen nodded, and took a place in the back.

Finally, the group was on the move again. And thankfully, they managed to move at a decent speed. Kitsune making sure his clones carried the carriage correctly, and at the same time keeping his senses open and making sure Koyuki was safely on his back.

The Kumo-shinobi were rather silent, B being the only one that rapped something every now and then, while K tried to get Shisui to talk, which didn't quite work.

"Ne, Kitsune-oni-chan." Koyuki started.

"Yes?"

"Are you strong?" She asked curiously.

Kitsune thought he'd heard something else in her voice, but wasn't sure, and so dismissed it. "Not really." He answered. Truly thinking that he wasn't strong.

"I see…" She said, and sounded disappointed, which confused Kitsune.

"How old are you?" Asked Kitsune.

"Seven." She answered.

" _Like Kei."_ Kitsune thought. "Is the old man your grandfather?"

"Eh? Ah… Yes…" She said.

"Hmm…" Kitsune answered, deep in thoughts.

"Kitsune."

Kitsune looked up to look at Akira. "Anyone following us?" He asked, but Naruto saw how the man made signs with his right hand, making sure only Kitsune could see. _What do you think?_ He signed.

"No one is following." He answered. And quickly followed by making his own signs. _Old man is suspicious._ He answered. He'd felt like the girls reaction had been to abnormal. And the way she kept shifting on his back, her breathing heavy, and she was nervous. He noticed that.

"I see. Keep looking out." Akira answered again. _Protect the girl._ He signed back, and put distance between himself and Kitsune again.

XXX

As the envoy finally arrived at the border, Takuya and Kushina moved forward to meet them. Kushina looked in surprise at the girl and the old man, as well as the carriage. In that moment, K came forward.

"You must be Namikaze-san." He said with a bow. "I am K." He introduced himself. "These are G, Z and B-sama." He introduced his teammates.

Kushina's eyes widened as she heard B's name. "B?" She asked again and turned to look at said man.

"Yoh, I'm B. Nice to meet you, previous nine." He rapped.

Kushina smiled. "To meet a Jinchuuriki, it's been a while." She said.

"EH?" Came Kitsune's surprised outburst. "Jinchuuriki?" He asked in surprise.

His outburst was followed by surprised glances thrown at him by every Shinobi present. _Shit_. He thought. He'd been careless. The surprise had been too much. To think that he would meet another Jinchuuriki so soon.

"Is there a problem with that?" Came K's threatening voice.

Kitsune, realizing his other mistake, quickly corrected it. "No. Not at all. Forgive me, I was only surprised. I hold no hate whatsoever against Jinchuuriki. Rather, I'm honoured to meet another one." He said.

"Honored?" Asked B, forgoing his rapping. Apparently, Kitsune's answer surprised not only B, but everyone present.

"Hai." Kitsune answered. "I've always been curious about Jinchuuriki." He answered truthfully.

"Hmmm…" B said.

"Ne Ne. What is a Jijuriki?" Asked Koyuki, who was still on Kitsune's back. Which drew the Konoha Shinobi's attention back towards the two new additions to the team.

"Who are they?" Asked Kushina, ignoring the girl's question and focusing back on their mission.

"Merchants." Akira answered. "They were attacked, and B-san and the rest helped them. They are heading towards Konoha." He answered. "I decided that it would be easiest to bring them along to the border." He added, and signed towards the fellow Shinobi of Konoha. _The old man is suspicious. Might be a trap. Girl nervous._

Kushina followed the signs, and then thought for a moment, followed by her nodding. "Very well." She said. "We'll go with that." She said. She then took a step forward to have every shinobi besides Kitsune in her back, and brought her hand behind her. _Better we know about the trap._ She signed. "We'll stay here over the night, and move out in the morning." She turned to the girl and the old man. "We'll accompany you to Konoha as well." She added.

The old man slowly walked forward, and bowed. "That is very nice of you. You have my thanks. Koyuki-chan. Isn't that great?"

"Hai, Oji-chan." She said with a smile. But Kushina couldn't help but feel something to be off, confirming Akira's statement that the old man was suspicious.

"Then. We already have our tents put up a small distance from here. We should go there now. It's getting dark." Kushina said.

"Very well." K said, and motioned for the rest to follow after Kushina, who had jumped ahead. Shinobi after Shinobi followed, until Kitsune was the last one. He followed after the group at a smaller pace, and thus arrived a few minutes after them. Shisui had made sure to stay in close range, in case something was to happen.

The tents were already standing when Naruto arrived, and he had his clones put down the carriage on a free spot. He put Koyuki down as well, who grabbed onto his pants. "Ne, Oni-chan." She started.

Kitsune crouched down to her level. "What is it?" He asked kindly. She was hiding something. He was sure.

She moved closer to his ear. "Please. Help me." She pleaded.

"Koyuki-chan. Come to grandpa." The old man who was across the clearing said and motioned for the girl to come closer.

Kitsune looked at the girl. _Kei's age_. He thought to himself again. "Don't worry. Oni-chan will protect you." He said seriously. "Go to the old man. I promise. Nothing will happen to you."

She nodded, and moved towards the old man again, sitting down next to him in front of the fire.

"Kitsune. You did well tonight. Rest. We'll take care of the watch." Takuya said as he appeared next to him.

Kitsune looked at his captain. "It's fine. I can take care of the watch." He argued.

"That's an order. Kitsune. I'll keep an eye on our guest." Takuya said.

Kitsune was silent for a second, and then nodded. "Hai, Taichou." He said, bowed, and left for his tent. He knew that he should follow orders. Defying them was not allowed. And so he quickly entered his tent that he shared with Shisui. Shisui had yet to enter the tent, and so the moment he was on his own, he allowed his shoulders to relax a little. Although the mask of Kitsune was still on his face, he allowed himself to lower his guard for a short moment. A Jinchuuriki. He didn't know what tailed monster he held, but he was another Jinchuuriki. And Kitsune couldn't help but feel curious. Besides the chakra he got and his higher regeneration, there hadn't been any real differences to his body from sealing the Kyuubi. But he wondered. B had used tentacles. He'd thought it to be some kind of Jutsu. But now he guessed they were probably a skill he got from his Bijuu. Maybe he got one too? But how did B acquire it? Kitsune had tried to get in contact with the Kyuubi. By meditating, that is. But he had never managed to reach any result. Maybe B knew something. Somehow, he had to find out. He wouldn't have a chance like this again any time soon.

"Kitsune?" Shisui asked as he entered the tent.

Kitsune jumped in surprise as Shisui's hand landed on his shoulder. "Karasu? Don't scare me like that." He said, for a second sounding more like the kid he really was.

Shisui looked at him in surprise and confusion. "You're a sensor. You shouldn't be caught by surprise." He rebutted. "Everything alright?"

Kitsune quickly put on his mental mask again, chastising himself on letting down his guard on a mission. "Yes. Everything is fine." He answered, and laid down on the ground.

Shisui sighed and laid down as well, back to back to Kitsune. "We're a team. If anything is bothering you, you can say it." He said, but wasn't really expecting an answer.

Kitsune didn't say anything, and so they both went to sleep.

XXX

Morning came fast, and Kitsune woke up before anyone else. As the sun started to rise he was already out of the tent. He'd greeted Hayate, who'd had the last watch, and went a little further into the forest. He took out his Katana, and started with some exercise, waiting for the rest to get up.

He looked up when he felt someone approach from behind him. Katana drawn, he suddenly stood in front of B. "Morning, yeah."

Kitsune gave a short bow. "B-san. Good morning."

"Ya good with swords?"

"Not really." Kitsune answered. And looked curiously as B took out one of his swords, and faced Kitsune. And before Kitsune had a chance to say something, B charged right at him. Kitsune's eyes widened in surprise as he just managed to jump to the side, evading the slash. "B-san what-?"

"Indeed." B said, as he relaxed his pose again. "You have a sword in your hand, yet you didn't block." He said seriously. "A Katana is used to block another Katana. But as long as you don't accept it as a part of you, you cannot use it."

Kitsune stared in surprise at the man, and then looked at the Katana that was still in his hand. True. He could have blocked. He saw the attack coming, but his instincts said 'evade' and not 'block'. Although he'd trained a lot with the Katana, he had yet to really master it. ' _Only once the katana becomes a part of your body, can you truly be called a master of the art.'_ His mother's voice sounded in him.

"But you have a grasp of the basic. That's the tactic. Fool ya fool!" He added, getting rid of the seriousness, and starting his silly rapping again.

Kitsune looked up from his katana to look at the man, who was giving him a thumbs up. "I don't see where you want to go with this." Said Kitsune.

"You… Are like me." B said once again seriously.

Kitsune stiffened as he thought B had figured out he was a Jinchuuriki.

"You don't have the eyes of someone that can hate."

"You don't even know me."

"I know what I know." He said, and then grinned again. "Let's spar sometimes, kid." B said, and disappeared again towards the camp, leaving a bemused Kitsune back.

As Kitsune got a grip of his senses, he noticed the smoke of the fire coming from the camp, and made his way towards it. As he walked, he thought about what B had said, and couldn't help but think about it all the way back.

"Kitsune."

Kitsune looked up to look towards Kushina, who was leaning against a tree, a short distance from the fire, where everyone else was sitting. "Kushina-sama."

She furrowed her brows, and stared intently at him. "Today might get messy. I want you to take care of the Koyuki-chan." She said.

Kitsune's gaze moved to the seal that she held in her hand, making sure that no one else could hear this conversation. "While I understand you to be one of the leaders of the mission, I am to follow the orders of Taichou when he is available." Kitsune said.

Kushina smiled. "Don't worry. Koumori agrees."

Kitsune nodded. "Hai."

Kushina nodded as well, and as she moved forward again, she rested a shoulder on Kitsune's shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile. Kitsune, at the contact with his mother, relaxed considerably. She moved past him, and Kitsune let go of a breath. He just felt like everything would be alright. He turned around, and joined the rest for breakfast. Koyuki almost throwing him over as she tackled him in greeting. He smiled under his mask. " _Really just like Kei."_ He thought once again about the girl, and ruffled her hair like he did with his younger brother as he sat down on a log, grabbing some fruits and listening to the peace of the forest.

XXX

 **Alright. Hope you liked it.**

 **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


	17. Chapter 17: Lacking

**Hey guys,**

 **Thanks a lot for the Reviews and Favourites and follows as always. Finally got to write the next chapter ;) Have a good read.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto**

 **XXX**

Chapter 17: Lacking

Kitsune shifted in his position as Koyuki was about to fall off his back. The girl grew more and more nervous as they got closer to Konoha, and Kitsune's senses were concentrating on as much on their surroundings as possible. He looked to the front, where his mother had taken the lead, next to her K. B and Takuya were in the back, and the rest were spread around him and Riku, who were in the middle. Kitsune carrying Koyuki on his back, and the clones he'd once again created carrying the carriage. Riku, who was next to him, was carrying the old man.

They weren't moving at a fast pace, since with the carriage, it was rather hard. They would have to stop for the night again, but they would make it back to Konoha by the next day. A bit later than originally planned, but they would make it.

"Nee… oni-chan…"

"Yes?" Kitsune asked kindly.

"Can we stop real quick? I… I need to… uhm…" Koyuki tried.

Kitsune looked up towards the front, where Kushina had already turned around her head, and was nodding at him, having heard the conversation. She stopped as they entered a small clearing, and raised her hand. "Let's put up our camp here." She said. They had been going for a few hours, and although they could have gone on for longer, no one was complaining.

Kitsune put Koyuki to the ground, and Riku put down the old man. Koyuki then quickly ran towards the forest, while the rest started to put up the tents again. Koyuki came back a short moment, and the group slowly started to gather some food for dinner.

Kitsune noted how Koyuki kept looking around, as if expecting something. She stared towards the part of the forest she had gone to earlier, and Kitsune, who had a really bad feeling, concentrated all his mind on that part of the forest. Faint. Really faint, he felt chakra. But he couldn't say what it was. He walked forward. Towards where that chakra came from.

"Kitsune?" Came Takuya's voice.

He ignored it, and kept walking. Something. Something was wrong. He walked past the trees. And stopped in shock as he saw the tag on the tree. He stared at it in horror, and reached out to grab it. He didn't recognize it completely, but one part of it was definitely a chakra suppressor. But why here? Why on the tree. He grabbed it, and yanked it off the tree, cancelling the seal. And then he stiffened. _"Shit!"_ He thought a moment later. But before he had any time to shout something to his comrades, hell broke loose. The sixteen shinobi, whose chakra had suddenly appeared the moment he took off the seal from the tree, jumped in to attack.

Kitsune turned on his heals to head back, but a Shinobi with a white mask suddenly stopped in his path. Kitsune gritted his teeth. He heard Kushina and Takuya barking out orders. He was only a short distance from them, but the trees made it impossible for him to see them. He swallowed the fear that rose in him, and readied his position. Without a second thought, he cancelled the gravity seals on his legs, and jumped at his opponent. Kitsune gathered the force in his arm, and threw a punch. Only for the Shinobi to catch it easily. Kitsune's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly caught himself again, and turned, trying to hit him with his leg. Again. The Shinobi just blocked.

Kitsune cursed under his mask. His physical strength was his weakest skill. He knew that. Because he was only ten, he couldn't, for the better of his body and health, train his physical body like an adult would. Because he was still growing, he had instead learnt and perfected Jutsus, and had concentrated on his speed. Even if he looked like a teenager with the mask, his body was still, in reality, that of a ten year old. And right now, he noticed just how much of a disadvantage that was. Although the enemy shouldn't be able to catch his punch as easily as he did… Kitsune tried to get out of the grip of the Shinobi, but he held onto his fist with too much strength. The Shinobi pulled back his fist, and hit Kitsune right in the gut. Kitsune coughed up blood at the impact.

Kitsune breathed heavily, and braced for the impact of the next hit that the Shinobi was preparing for. But before the Shinobi's fist connected, his fist was caught by Akira, who suddenly stood behind the enemy.

"That's my Kohai you bastard." He spat out, and in a fluid motion had the shinobi release Kitsune's fist and then hit him with so much force, that the shinobi flew back and hit one of the trees to his side. The shinobi got up again after a short moment, and readied himself for a fight. "Kitsune, I got this. Go back to the camp and give support." Akira said in commanding tone.

Kitsune nodded, and moved towards the camp. As he passed the last tree, he took a few seconds to take in the situation. Everyone was positioned in a circle around the camp, were Koyuki was hiding, and Riku and Tsubasa were lending support from the middle of it. Koyuki crying as she held her head in between her knees and her hands over her ears.

He saw that three enemy Shinobi were already down. Kushina was fighting two opponents at once, as was Takuya. One of his opponents being the old man. Hayate was fighting one opponent, but he was already sporting a large cut on his shoulder. Then again, so was his opponent. Neither Genma, Shisui, B nor K could be seen, but Kitsune felt them a short distance from them. B fighting two, and K, Shisui and Genma each one opponent. Z and G were also each fighting one opponent, but were trying to bring them away from the support group.

Kitsune saw how a stray lightning Jutsu made its way towards the support group, but they were all concentrating on one task, not noticing the Jutsu. Kitsune quickly went through some hand seals, and sent a wind blast towards it, disrupting it. He then took his position in the support group, and Koyuki, who saw Kitsune arriving, moved towards him, grabbing onto his leg pant. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She sobbed.

Kitsune looked at her in pity, already guessing what the situation was like. He would have to find out for sure later, but for now, he only patted her head slightly. "It's okay. Hide behind me." He said as he pushed her behind him. She was now surrounded by him, Riku and Tsubasa, who had moved to stand back to back to him. Each ready to support the fighters. Kitsune saw how one of Kushina's opponents fell, killed by a slash of Kushina's katana. And the last fighter was already looking pretty bad. Kitsune only took a moment to be in awe at his mother's strength, before he saw that G needed help. He quickly sent wind shuriken at the opponent he was fighting, helping in deflecting the shuriken that had been sent G's way. G took a short moment to turn his head and nod in thanks, before turning again and concentrating on his opponent again.

Kitsune noticed that they were winning. Hayate had just descended his katana on his opponent, ending him, while he felt that B had moved to help K with his opponent. Takuya had just taken down the other Shinobi he was fighting, and was now left with facing the old man.

Akira also came back from the forest, but instead of joining the others in fighting again, he moved towards Riku, who at seeing the large gash on his chest, quickly moved to give first aid. He nodded to Kitsune, telling him he was alright.

Tsubasa was none-stop sending different combinations of water Jutsus at the enemies, and took down the enemy Z was fighting as Z managed to capture the attention of the shinobi long enough for Tsubasa to kill him with a Kunai. She sent Tsubasa a thankful nod. At the same time, G took down his own opponent.

Z and G then exchanged a glance, and moved in the direction where the others were. Ready to lend a hand if need be.

Kushina and Takuya were now the only ones left fighting, and the two enemy shinobi seemed to understand that they had lost. The one Shinobi Kushina was fighting jumped back a bit, and looked straight towards the support team. Or more precisely, at Koyuki.

Kitsune wondered for a moment what he was trying to accomplish, when he suddenly felt pain spread through his body. He looked back towards Koyuki, who was sobbing, a Kunai embedded into Kitsune's back, held shakenly by the young girl. "I'm sorry…" She sobbed. "Oni-chan. I'm sorry…"

Kitsune reached out to her, and she flinched. Kitsune put his hand on her head. "It's okay." He said, feeling dizzy. And before she had time to say something else, he knocked her out quickly. She fell limp to the ground, Tsubasa just turning around quickly enough to catch her. She looked at Kitsune in worry. Kitsune just shook his head, and fell to his knees. The blood was flowing out of his body quickly. Koyuki had hit his kidney, he noted. Riku was now taking care of Shisui who was some distance away, and couldn't come right away. Kitsune put his hand to his side, and started the first aid. While he couldn't quite reach the puncture he could still stop the bleeding. And once Riku was available again, she could take care of the rest. The Shinobi fighting Kushina cursed.

"To use an innocent child. Despicable." Kushina spat, and then proceeded to crush him into the ground. She gave Kitsune a worried look, but as he signed her that it wasn't life threatening, she sighed in relief. Then she turned to the old man Takuya was fighting. "It's over. You lost." She said. Tsubasa had meanwhile risen and was carrying Koyuki. She stood with her back to Kitsune, and joined the group where Riku was, to notify them of Kitsune's injury. They hadn't noticed as they were concentrating on Takuya's fight.

The old man then started to laugh. "Did I?" He asked and grinned maliciously. He, took out his jacket, and showed everyone the exploding tags on his body. Everyone started to jump back, readying for protection as the old man moved his hands to make a sign. Everyone knew just how bad this explosion would be. Kushina landed next to Kitsune, and was about to help him up, when the old man finished his seal. His grin widened. "At least I can take you all with me." He said, and activated the Jutsu.

Kitsune acted on instinct as he hastily pulled out four Kunai, and threw each one of them away from him, making a square. Each Kunai had a sealing tag attached to it. "Activate." He said, voice laced with pain.

The seals on the tags started to glow, and connected with each other, creating something like a large, blue coloured wall between the old man and the Shinobi. It activated just in time to stop the explosion from reaching them. It held on quite well, but didn't hold all of it, and shattered after a moment, hitting everyone with a shockwave. Smoke and heat engulfing them. But thankfully, no fire reached them. As the smoke stopped, the old man had disappeared, and Kitsune breathed out heavily as he fell to his knees. His seal hadn't worked perfectly, but it had done its job. A prototype he'd been working on. He hadn't tested it yet, so he was glad it had worked to some extent.

The other Shinobi stared in shock at what had just happened. Kushina staring at the Kunai that had fallen to the ground the moment the attack had stopped.

"What the hell just happened?" Came Shisui's voice as he returned to the group. He was followed by the Kumo Shinobi and Genma, who were also looking curiously at the scene. K, J and G were all sporting minor injuries. Bruises here and there. Genma though was being supported by G, and looked pretty bad with a large gash on his shoulder, and his leg bent in an unnatural way.

Riku looked at Kitsune, who quickly signed her to take care of Genma first. She nodded, and moved over to him.

Akira moved over to Takuya, saying something in a quiet voice, while Kushina turned to say something to Tsubasa. Kitsune was the only one to notice how Kushina's second enemy suddenly rose again on shaking legs, and jumped at Kitsune, who in that moment was the closest to him. Kitsune looked in shock, as he saw the man coming closer and closer to him, without having the time to react. He couldn't move. The blood loss kept him barely conscious.

The Katana the man held in his hand descended towards him. Coming closer and closer. Kitsune closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. But it didn't come. He opened his eyes and stared right into the eyes of his mother. "Really, Kitsune. You need to blocks something like that." She said with difficulty and pain in her voice. But she smiled nonetheless. She then slowly rose again, turned towards the opponent.

Kitsune stared in shock as the blood flowed out of his mother's injury. A large gash on her back. Kushina moved at a speed he wouldn't expect someone with such an injury to move, and killed the enemy with a quick move. Kitsune couldn't tear his eyes away from the injury on his mother. He felt his eyes sting, as tears made their way down his cheeks, unseen because of the mask. He'd just caused his mother to be injured. He watched as she slowly walked back towards them, breathing heavily. The blood loss occurring so fast, and the fight from before taking its toll on her. She crouched down next to Kitsune, and smiled at him. "It's okay. It's not so bad." She tried to reassure him. But Kitsune was shaking, as his eyes didn't focus on anything. He didn't see anyone. He just had the image of his mother in front of him. Injured, because of him.

"Kitsune! Get a grip!" Came suddenly the voice of Riku. "Kitsune!" She shouted again as Kitsune didn't react.

Finally, Kitsune came out of his trance, and looked at the scene around him. Riku was now kneeling beside him, looking at him in worry, as were Takuya and Akira. His side was already bandaged up, so he must have been out of it for a moment.

Both Genma and Hayate's injury were meanwhile also bandaged up, Genma's leg being stabilised with some wood, but they seemed to be alright. Shisui, B, and Takuya were the only ones who had not been injured at all during the fight, with the exception of Tsubasa and Riku.

And then his eyes fell on his mother. She was leaning against a tree, asleep, a large bandage across her torso. He wanted to shout out to her, but no word came from his mouth. He closed his eyes, pushing back the tears.

"How long…" His voice broke. "How long was I out?" Kitsune asked once more.

"About half an hour." Riku answered kindly. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

Kitsune nodded, telling them he was fine. Although that was a lie. "Kushina-sama?" He asked, and had to use all of his concentration to call her like that.

Riku exchanged a glance with Takuya, before looking back at Kitsune. "She'll need some rest. But she'll make it. It wasn't too bad" She said.

Kitsune nodded. "Sorry." He said after a while.

Takuya sighed, and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. No one is injured to a point where they'll die. These things happen." He tried to reassure Kitsune.

"Koumori-san." Came K's voice.

Takuya looked up. "Yes?"

K gave Kitsune a short glance before looking back at Takuya. "I hope you will agree that staying here for the night would not be smart. We should rest a bit longer, and then head straight to Konoha, to ensure proper treatment for the injured." He said, and sent Kushina a glance.

Takuya nodded. "I am glad you think so as well. We shall leave in half an hour."

K nodded, and moved to tell the rest of his team, while Akira went to tell the rest of the Konoha shinobi.

"Do you think you can run?" Asked Takuya towards Kitsune.

Kitsune nodded, and stood up, proving his point.

"He shouldn't walk around. He lost a lot of blood." Riku protested.

"I'm fine." Kitsune said and looked straight into Takuya's eyes.

Takuya nodded. "Let him run." He said towards Riku.

"Koumori. He's injured."

"And yet he says he's fine." Takuya rebutted, and gave Riku a pointed stare.

Riku glared at him, but then sighed. "Fine. Don't blame me when he collapses." She said with a huff and walked away.

Takuya turned to Kitsune again. "Koyuki-chan is uninjured. We'll have to find out more about her situation once we're back in Konoha." He said.

Kitsune nodded, not trusting his voice. He looked once more towards his mother. Riku was once more treating her. Kushina's pale frame, swallow breathing, was now deep engraved into his mind. He didn't notice as Takuya left his side to see to the rest of the team, getting ready for the run back to Konoha.

XXX

Minato was just reviewing the report of a mission, when he got notice that the escort team had returned. He hadn't been overly worried when they were a day late. But it was now in the middle of the night. And that was something he worried about. He waited only a short moment until the group entered the room. And the first thing he noticed was Kushina's absence. Although he did notice that more than half of the team wasn't in the room, Kushina was the first on his mind. He feared for the worst as he shot up from his seat and looked at Takuya with worried eyes.

"Kushina?" He brought out.

Takuya nodded. "She is injured, but in no danger of losing her life." He said, and Minato sighed out in relief. "The same goes for Genma, Hayate, Tora and Kitsune." He added, which made Minato look up apological for not asking about them as well.

Minato then moved his eyes to look at the remaining team. The Kumo-Shinobi were nowhere to be seen, but Minato assumed that they were being taken care of by Kana. She would lead them to the Inn, and he would talk to them the next day. As for the rest of the Konoha Shinobi, Riku had most likely brought the injured to the hospital. Shisui and Takuya were uninjured. Tsubasa was standing at attention, also no injury on her.

Minato nodded. "What happened?"

"We're not one hundred percent sure." Takuya started. "The Kumo-envoy was late, and so we sent a few members to meet up with them. They were travelling with a young girl and an old man. Merchants, so they said." Takuya continued. "It was decided that we would help them."

Minato sighed. "They were no merchants then."

Takuya nodded. "We noticed right away that the old man in the group was suspicious, because of the young girl's behaviour. We expect her to have been threatened somehow."

Minato nodded. It wasn't a rare occurrence.

"We had already put up our camp, when we were attacked." Takuya finished.

Minato nodded once more. Somethings were left unsaid, but a more detailed report would have to follow later. For now, this would do. "The Kumo-envoy is uninjured?"

Takuya nodded. "Mostly. Only minor injuries. On our side, the worst injured is Kushina."

Minato looked shocked at this. For Kushina to be injured was one thing. But the worst injured? "How did she get injured?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"Kitsune was unable to block an attack, and she protected him." Takuya said, feeling bad at having to put it like it was Kitsune's fault.

Minato furrowed his brows. Anger flaring up in him against his better judgment. Anger at Kitsune and Hiruzen. He started to regret the decision to let him enter. He was silent for a moment, before he came to a decision. "Alright. Everyone dismissed. Koumori, I'm awaiting a detailed report in the morning." He said, and got up from his seat. He would go and see Kushina right away. The rest would have to wait.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Came the answer of the Shinobi.

"Then, if you'll excuse me, I'll go to the hospital." He said, and walked past the Shinobi.

"Ah, and Hokage-sama." Takuya said as he followed Minato out of the office. Minato sent him a questioning gaze. "The girl that was with the old man is in the hospital as well." He said.

Minato stopped in his tracks. "Is she dangerous?" He asked seriously.

Takuya shook his head. "No."

Minato nodded. "I'll see to it."

XXX

Kitsune was sitting on one of the beds, watching Kushina breath in and out in the bed next to his. After they had arrived in Konoha, Koumori had ordered him to get treated at the hospital, even though he'd wanted to go see his father as well. Tsunade had come in looking really pale, and after taking care of Kushina, had tended to him in a separate room.

It had been really silent. Kitsune hadn't spoken a word, and Tsunade, knowing Naruto was underneath the mask, didn't know what to say.

He remembered when he and Hiruzen had gone and told her about him entering ANBU, and how she'd been so against it. Both had needed a long time to have her, while not agree, accept the situation, and promised to keep quiet, while also tending to Kitsune should the need arise.

And now, after his first mission, he came back injured, together with his mother, who was also rather badly injured. She kept telling him that his mother would be alright, but Kitsune had just stared ahead, not looking at anything. She'd left him in his mother's room afterwards, realizing that he needed time to think.

Kitsune didn't notice as the door opened and Minato came in, followed by two young boys.

"Who are you?"

Kitsune looked to the side in surprise as his little brother talked to him. Kei, now being 7 years old, was standing at 4 ft. His red hair was as spiky as his own, but slightly shorter. Since it was in the middle of the night, he was wearing his blue pyjama. He was staring at him with curious eyes. Kitsune looked up to see his clone looking at him with wide eyes, Daiki next to him, and Minato glaring at him from behind his clone.

Kitsune shot up from the bed, and crouched down. "Hokage-sama, I-"

"Kitsune." Minato said and his tone made Kitsune stiffen. "You should go rest." He said, but his voice was laced with coldness.

"Otou-san?" Asked his clone to his father.

Kitsune bit his lip, but nodded. He quickly performed a Shunshin. Disappearing from view.

He arrived a short moment later in the middle of an underground ANBU training hall. It had been shown to him two weeks ago by Takuya. Apparently, ANBU used this space only rarely, preferring the ones with more light and better training facilities. The hall was just that. A large hall, with a small balcony where the door was, and where people could watch from. Under normal circumstances, Kitsune would have gone to his and Itachi's training ground. But right now, he didn't want to talk to even Itachi, who would try to look for him the moment he would find out what happened.

He was tired from the mission, but whenever he closed his eyes, he saw his mother. With shaking arms, he formed a cross with his fingers. "Kage-Bushin."

Shadow clones appeared in front of him, and without waiting any longer, he charged.

XXX

Minato stood there looking at the space Kitsune had just disappeared from a bit longer, before he moved to Kushina's side. He took her hand, and watched as she slept peacefully. He was joined moments later by his two sons. He smiled at them kindly, but looked in confusion at Naruto's troubled expression. "What is it, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up. "Ah… It's just… That ANBU. Why were you so angry at him?" Naruto asked.

Minato looked at him in surprise, but then relaxed his face and smiled once more at his son. "Because I care about your Kaa-chan." He said.

Naruto looked at him confused, an expression mimicked by his youngest son.

Minato chuckled and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Don't worry about it." He said.

"Will Kaa-chan be okay?" Asked Kei from the other side of the bed.

"Of course. Your Kaa-chan is strong. She'll be fine." Minato assured them.

Kei nodded, and climbed onto the bed, cuddling up to his mother. And then slowly, he fell asleep.

Minato smiled at the sight, and looked down once more towards Naruto, whose brows were furrowed in concentration. "Naruto? Is there something bothering you?"

"Eh? No… It's nothing." Naruto answered.

"Hmm… You know you can talk to me about anything right?" Minato felt a twinge as Naruto looked at him with surprise. Like he hadn't considered that.

Naruto bit his lower lip and lowered his head, nodding slightly. He looked up as Minato put a hand on his head, and brought his forehead to him. "You're my precious son. Don't ever forget that."

Naruto nodded, and Minato pulled back. He had been a lot closer to Kei lately, he realised. He would have to somehow make some time for Naruto. He looked like he could need it.

They spent the rest of the night in relative silence, as they watched over Kushina and the sleeping Kei. Somehow, the silence having a calming effect on both of them.

Morning came way too fast for Minato's liking, and as the first ray of sun reached the hospital room, he got up from his seat, drawing Naruto's gaze on him. "I have to go to work." He said.

Naruto looked to the ground. "Can I stay here?" Asked Naruto.

Minato smiled at his son. "I'll notify the academy on both of your absence." Minato said, drawing a smile from his son. The first one in a while, he noted.

He ruffled his son's hair once more, and then walked out. He signed in exhaustion at what would be coming today.

He arrived at his office a short moment later. Kana was already writing on documents as he arrived. She looked up and smiled at him. "Good morning, Hokage-sama. How is Kushina-sama?" She asked.

Minato smiled at her. "Good morning, Kana. Kushina is still unconscious, but should wake up sometime during the day." He said, and walked over to her desk. "How did the Kumo-envoy seem yesterday?"

"Calm. It was to be expected that they would be attacked. They also didn't mind not seeing you right away. I made an appointment for them today at three in the afternoon, and have arranged for Asuma-san to take them around the village.

Minato nodded. "Thank you. Anything else?" She shook her head. Minato smiled at her once more. "Alright. Then I should probably get to work." He said and walked into his office.

He seated himself on his desk, and only moments later, Takuya and his team, minus Kitsune, arrived in the office.

Minato furrowed his brows. "I believe only you would have sufficed, Koumori." Minato stated.

Takuya stood up from his crouched position. "I believe my teammates can add some own details on the report, Hokage-sama." Takuya said.

"And the fact that your last teammate is missing is because?" Minato asked, his anger to the new ANBU at getting his wife injured had subsided over the night. He didn't know the details, so he would wait for the report.

Takuya exchanged a glance with his teammates, before answering. "Well, it was Kitsune's first mission. We were hoping to give you our report on this as well."

"And?"

"Kitsune is…" Takuya started and furrowed his brows. "Currently unavailable." He finished.

"Unavailable? What do you mean?" Minato asked with furrowed brows.

XXX

 **There we go, another chapter. Hope you liked it. All the best.**

 **See you soon, your PurpleShadow95**


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